Welcome to 2012 VEGAN MOFO Day 23 - Gumbo

Welcome to MOFO TWENTY-THREE!

Another comforting, slow cooker recipe,

Gumbo

because I had okra, onions and celery in my co-op half share.

Ingredients:

2 pounds okra, sliced

2 8-ounce packages tempeh, chopped

4 cups vegetable broth, divided

2 Tablespoons oil

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 stalks celery, diced

2 bell peppers, chopped (I used red and orange for color)

4 medium tomatoes with their juices, chopped

2 Tablespoons paprika

1 Tablespoon Creole seasoning (I use Tony Chacheres)

1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

1 teaspoon gumbo file powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Roux - dry roux to cut down on fat

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup cold water 

Brown the okra in a large, dry skillet over medium heat until to reduce slime-iness, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. 

Brown tempeh in same skillet over medium heat in 1/4 cup vegetable broth, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Saute onion in oil over medium heat until softened, 4-5 minutes.

Add garlic and celery and saute another 2-3 minutes.

Add bell peppers, saute another 2-3 minutes.

Add tomatoes and their juices, tempeh and okra.

Stir to combine.

Transfer vegetable mixture to crockpot, add remaining broth, paprika, Creole seasoning, and file powder.

Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.
Sample broth, adding salt and pepper to taste.

At 7 hours, make the roux:

Heat the flour in hot skillet over high heat, stirring constantly until flour browns. Remove skillet from heat as soon as it browns to prevent flour burning. Mix browned flour and water in a quart sized mason jar with tight fitting lid, cover and shake until flour completely dissolved.

Carefully remove 1/2 cup broth from crock pot, stir in into flour mixture (will be hot, so be careful and use oven mitts to hold jar).

Stir liquid smoke into jar, if using.

Then stir roux slowly into crockpot.

Cover and cook additional 1/2 hour until thickened.

Serve on its own or over brown rice.

#1 R&B song this day in 1976
THE SPINNERS
"Rubberband Man"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKbADFJOCkU