Jammin' Jambalaya

My son has gotten into this habit of balking at certain veggies in his casseroles.  Suspecting that it's a "texture issue," I decided to get a little ... creative.  Gleaning from a number of recipes easily available on the web, my intents were to 1) make this as simple as possible; and 2) incorporate as many vegetables as possible.  It was a score with both my husband and not-quite-4-year-old, so hopefully your fam will enjoy it as well.  A word of caution, though: my son inherited both his grandfathers' spicy palates, so the hot sauce quotient might be a tad strong for most little ones.

Note: you will need a small food processor (3-cup) to complete this recipe.

Gather ingredients

3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 softball-sized sweet onion (or 1 medium yellow), peeled with ends removed
1 bell pepper (I used red), washed and cored
4 stalks celery, scrubbed with toughened ends remoed
1 lb rope sausage, cut lengthwise and sliced thinly (I use Hardwood Smoked Chicken Sausage by Hillshire Farms)
1 can organic diced tomatoes
Chicken Stock (I use Pacific Crest Organic, which is low-sodium and gluten-free)
1 - 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
2-3 tsp hot sauce (I use Smoked Chipotle Tabasco)
3 Bay leaves
1 1/2 Cups long-grain brown rice 

Prep

Liquify diced tomatoes in food processor.  Transfer to quart-sized measuring cup and combine with Worcestershire and hot sauces; add enough chicken stock to make 4 cups total liquid.  Set aside.

Mince onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic in food processor.  Unless you have a larger capacity processor, I'd advice doing this in two batches.

Heat oil in deep skillet.  Saute minced veggies and sliced sausage until veggies are crisp-tender and sausage is lightly browned.

Add brown rice, bay leaves, and liquid mixture.  Stir once to combine.  Bring to a boil; cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Please resist the urge to overstir -- it will make the rice split and go mushy!

Serve with steamed sweet corn and grated colby-jack cheese.  Enjoy!