Veggie Gumbo—lucky? For sure, tasty

Who says dining for luck has to be reserved for celebrating the new year? How about for celebrating a new month? As February kicked off, we decided to try this Lucky Veggie Gumbo. Those reportedly lucky black-eyed peas were, of course, present—mingled with diced tomatoes, green chilies, brown rice, okra, and other veggies and seasonings.

This can be served as a main course, although we also enjoyed it as a side for meat loaf one day and baked chicken the next. In this dish, the okra addition was of the frozen variety, but yesterday’s springlike temps in our area remind us that gardening days (and the promise of our own okra growing outside) are just down the road.

Lucky Veggie Gumbo

1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, fat-free (I subbed lower-sodium chicken broth)

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed

1 (4-ounce) can green chilies, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup frozen okra

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoons cayenne

3/4 teaspoon cumin

 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion, pepper, and celery until they are tender. Pour in the vegetable broth, rice, black-eyed peas, garlic, diced tomatoes, green chilies, and okra. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Simmer until desired thickness is reached. Add spices and lemon juice. If mixture is too thick, gradually add water. Makes 6 1-cup servings. (Source: Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services)