Shrimp, Andouille Sausage and Chicken Gumbo

I have made gumbo a few times.  I had to go to five grocery stores to find okra and had no luck, but finally found it at my Korean market - frozen.

It was the closest market to me and the last one I checked.  Figures.  😏 What I used for this batch:

• 3 small bell peppers, diced (I had red, yellow and orange)
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bag of frozen okra (400 grams)
• 7 small boneless, skinless chicken thighs, browned and cut into bite size pieces
• 4 andouille sausage links, browned and sliced
• 1 lb of wild shrimp, cleaned and deveined, 31/40 count
• 1 can (28 oz) unsalted diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of organic Kirkland no salt chicken broth
• 2 cups of low sodium stock made with Better than Bouillon vegetable base
• 2 tablespoons of no salt Cajun seasoning
• 2 tablespoons of File powder (one tablespoon in the simmer stage and another at the end)
• 2 tablespoons of Old Bay seasoning
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Few good shakes of Tabasco sauce
• 1 bunch of green onions, sliced
• Handful of parsley, sliced finely
• 1/2 cup of avocado oil
• 1/2 cup of flour
• long grain rice (cooked and 1/2 cup per serving)

As always, all the prep work got done first.

I diced all the veggies and minced the garlic.  Next I went onto browning the sausage and chicken and cutting it all into bite size pieces.

I didn't cook it all the way through as it would simmer for awhile.  The roux was last.

I heated the oil and added in the flour.  Below is just after starting when it got to blonde stage.

It didn't take very long tonight, about 15 minutes to get to peanut butter hue.  Normally I go to dark chocolate but I was in a hurry.  AND, I forgot to take a picture of the peanut butter color when I got there!

I dumped in the veggies and then realized I forgot to take a picture of the roux.

I put in all the spices and stirred it all for about 10 minutes.

Everything else went in except the green onions and shrimp.  I brought to a boil and then simmered for 45 minutes.

In the last 10 minutes of that, I added the shrimp, file powder and the green onions.  I made the rice in the last half hour too.

I took two pictures, presentation and then mixed up with the rice.

This was sooo good!  I love gumbo.  This was not like my usual at all. I never have added tomatoes before and I already mentioned the roux.  I added more hot sauce to mine as I really like it HOT!  This wasn't exactly my healthy eating that I have been doing lately, but it was worth it to take a break and enjoy this meal.  It felt luxurious and sinful.  And boy oh boy do I love me some okra - slime and all!

EDIT:  April 8, 2017:

I made gumbo tonight and thought I'd add how the roux looks when it is dark chocolate brown.

My rice was mushy last time.  I read that adding less water should fix the problem so instead of adding 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice, I added a cup and a half of water.  It seemed to work well.