Cajun Shrimp and Greens Soup

[LINDA RN]

Found this on Dole's FB site and thought it could be easily adapted to LDL for those who love Cajun!
Please post how this tastes if you try it.


Cajun Shrimp and Greens Soup



Prep Time: 45 min.
Serves: 6

Ingredients
•1/4 cup all-purpose flour
•1/4 cup vegetable oil
  Instead of the flour and oil 'Rue" try 1/4cup or more pureed cooked white beans
•3 to 4 teaspoons dry Cajun seasoning
•2-1/2 cups bottled clam juice
•2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) petite-cut tomatoes with onions and roasted garlic, undrained
  (check ingredients on the can. If it contains unhealthy stuff like sugar or "natural flavorings-
    just use the plain diced tomatoes and add your own garlic and onions)
•1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
•1 garlic clove, minced
•1 pkg. (6 oz.) DOLE® Seven Lettuces
•1 pound cooked small shrimp, peeled and deveined
•Ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
•Whisk together flour and oil in heavy 6-quart sauce pot over medium-high heat 4 to 5 minutes or until smooth and lightly browned.
  Stir together pureed white beans and Cajun seasoning; cook 1 minute.
•Add tomatoes with juice, thyme and garlic; bring to boil.
  Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes.
  Add salad; cook stirring 1 to 2 minutes.
  Add shrimp; cook, stirring, until heated through.
  Season with pepper, to taste.

[snowbirdie]

Linda thats looks so good!  I have every thing on hand. I just guess I might make that tomorrow except I must add okra. 
    Oh my I would make it today but have crab cakes ready to go!
                                      Judie

[Joyful Friend]

It looks delicious.  I will make it soon.  Crab cakes sound good---the recipe, Pretty please.    JF

[LINDA RN]

Oh, yes Judie.
It definitely needs OKRA!
I love that stuff!

[Joyful Friend]

No okra for me.  I think that is the only vegatable that I TRULY dislike.  Mom raised it and loved it, but no matter how she fixed it, it felt slimy in my mouth.    JF

[LINDA RN]

That is just the way Okra is! Gotta love that slime!!! 

[JerrieH]

When I was a kid my mom used to make what she called Hobo Stew, which was made with hamburger, instead of stew meat, but pretty much everything else was the same as a typical stew, except she put sliced okra in it.  It was good.  You didn't really notice any slimyness of the okra when it was in a stew.  Jerrie

[JerrieH]

I love brussell sprouts too, especially oven roasted.  Jerrie

[Joyful Friend]

  Funny, Mary.  I also love brussel sprouts.  Jerrie, Mom made stew and the slime was still there.  I've tried to eat it and enjoy it, but haven't so far.  If it were served to me in a stew, I would eat it, but I don't think I would rave over it.    JF

[crickadoodle]

Okra is one of the veggies my husband likes!  I cook it all the time, and he loves the slime -- which is so funny, because he is all about the texture of foods.  I guess slime is a texture he likes.   

I sometimes cook okra whole and just put vinegar and salt on it.  I love it that way!  So simple, but good to me.

[snowbirdie]

hi jerrie,
    How do you roast them? Any special way?
                            JUDIE

[JerrieH]

Judie - I just spray a cookie sheet and I either spray the brussell sprouts with cooking spray (or I just roll them in a little olive oil, which is better than just spraying them with cooking spray - but more fat calories), then I sprinkle them either with sea salt, or other seasonings and bake them at 400 or 450 until they brown up.  Really good.  Jerrie

[MsHeirloom]

Jerrie- Those sprouts sound delicious!  Pam

[snowbirdie]

Hi Jerrie,
    Thanks so much. I supposse it is like roasting other veggies. I got two big bundles of brussel sprouts out of reduced cart at market. They were so fresh I wondered why they were in there. So today I will fix them. thanks so much.
                                          judie

[JerrieH]

Judie - I hope your brussell sprouts turn out good.  Many times when I roast veggies I use Paula Deen's seasoning recipe and they turn out really good.  Works on so many things.  If you don't have the recipe already, it is nothing more than 1 c. salt (I use sea salt), 1/4 c. garlic powder and 1/4 c. pepper.  Just store in a glass jar and it last a long time and you can use it in so many things, soups, meats, roasted veggies, garbanzo nuts, etc. etc.  It is really good.  Jerrie  :)

[snowbirdie]

Jerrie  thanks so much  i will certainly have to make some. Maybe tomorrow as it is gonna rain all day.  today i must do some work in garden.      judie

[yayatrudy]

okra that is slimy just hasn't been cooked enought.  My mom would slice a big roaster full and add the onions, bellpepper and celery and cooking oil then put it in the oven all afternoon stirring every now and then. It all browned nicely and she put it up in pint freezer bags so all she had to do to make a shrimp okra gumbo was add shrimp and water to the okra.  There was no slime ever.

[CodingQueen]

I would use a can of beans to replace the roux or just omit it.

There are three ways that are commonly use to thicken a gumbo recipe:

1. Okra
2. File powder (FEE-lay for those that are not familiar with the ingredient)
3. Roux.

A classic gumbo recipe will call for okra or file powder but not both. My grandmother preferred to use a roux and add the okra or file OR just omit the roux altogether (it's not required to make a gumbo). Although some cooks do mix okra and file, it is not a common practice in Cajun cooking. File was originally an okra substitute when okra was not in season.

Traditionally, okra is used in the summer (in season) and file powder in the winter. For example, a seafood gumbo is not thickened with file and one that contains meat/game is not thickened with okra. This reflects the fishing and crabbing during the summer months and hunting during the winter by my Cajun ancestors.

Since starting LDL, I just omit the roux in my grandmother's recipes.

There are two gumbo recipes that I posted under the Topic, "Vegetable Gumbo" without a roux.

CQ