In honor of Mardi Gras, which is big where I come from, I am sharing my mother's famed Gumbo recipe. Not only is it vegetarian, it is also vegan. It's almost a contraindication for us to say that we are Cajun (especially my mom who is 100% so), but are vegetarians. There is an old joke that says a momma lobster and her baby were walking one day and the baby was scared of a cow and an alligator and an owl, but the mother assured the baby that it was safe from those animals. However, the momma saw a Cajun and yelled "Run!" The baby asked why and the momma said "That's a Cajun, and they'll eat anything!" That being said, my mother created a gumbo recipe that would not make lobsters nervous.

This post also falls under a new series for Eat Like a Rabbit titled Mom and Me. Gumbo has been a big part of my life. The most popular two instances were my sophomore year in high school when I served Gumbo as part of a project for English class (and people were still writing about it in my yearbook my senior year) and when my mother was invited to my Nuclear Department Christmas Party by my staff so she could make Gumbo for them. Also, in the winter, my parents will host Gumbo Parties where people can come over and learn how to make Gumbo and anyone who doesn't want to learn how to make it comes for lunch or dinner to eat it and to play games.

Before you get too far, I will warn that it looks expensive and time consuming. It's best to make Gumbo in large batches and freeze it without the Fri-chik or the rice to maximize time and supplies. Nevertheless, it is worth every second of effort put into this fabulous. . .stew? Soup? No, there's just no other way to label Gumbo.

Vegetarian Gumbo

• 3 lg onions
• 5 ribs celery
• 1 large bell pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• 5 t onion powder
• 3 t garlic powder
• 1 t ground celery seed
• 2 T parsley flakes
• 2 T dried chives
• 1½ t dried okra, ground
• ½ t ground red pepper (optional)
• 4 t sweet basil
• ¼ C Soy Sauce
• 3 T McKay’s (vegetarian) chicken seasoning

Cut onions in large pieces, place in blender and cover with water. Pulse process until onions are finely chopped. Use large cooking spoon with holes to drain onions from blender. Retain water in blender. Place onions in a large sauce pan. In the same water, repeat the process for celery and bell pepper in this order, adding more water to cover if necessary. The bell pepper gets foamy. Drain celery and bell pepper but retain water from blender to use later. Sauté the mixture until onions and celery are clear. Add soy sauce and dried ingredients (no added salt). Simmer until ready to add to soup pot.

Roux

• 1 C oil
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 gal hot tap water, plus or minus (I never measured)

Mix oil and flour in a large skillet. Over medium heat, brown roux to a golden brown, stirring constantly with the flat of a large spoon. To keep roux from lumping, add water ½ cup at the time until the roux is a thick paste consistency. Pour roux into a large soup pot. To thin roux, stirring constantly, add at little water at the time first from the blender and then hot tap water. Add sautéed seasonings to the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. The longer simmered, the better. Add water as necessary to keep gumbo to a thin soup consistency.

• 3 cans Fri Chik, diced small (not the pre-diced Fri Chik) 1 ½ t salt or to taste

Wash Fri Chik, dice and add to the soup. I do not use the juice from the Fri Chik can. Do not add salt until the gumbo has simmered at least an hour, then salt to taste. If it is too salty, add more water. Serve gumbo over a small bed of rice with saltine crackers. May be seasoned at the table with “Gumbo File” (fee-lay) and/or Louisiana Hot Sauce or Cayenne or Ground Red Pepper. May be cooled in the refrigerator and then frozen in quart Ziplock freezer bags for later use.