Down on the Bayou ♫♫ Cajun Soup

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I found myself humming the Credence Clearwater Revival (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) hit “Born on the Bayou” when I started to cook this soup yesterday and quickly went and popped the tape into my player.  I was quite fond of Credence in college.  I just LOVE their rendition of this particular song.  I was really just trying to use up a leftover chicken breast and a half bag of crawfish tails in my freezer and seeing the German brats on the refrigerator shelf right by the chicken, well….. I immediately thought of a Cajun concoction.  This creation is where that thought took me.

The final soup WAS DELICIOUS!  It has been so cold lately, soup is exactly the right kind of lunch these days.  The beans make this meal a little carb-y, but you could omit those for a lower net carb count (or if you’re on Atkins Induction.  But considering how many vegetables it has, it’s not surprising it’s a bit carb-y.  As written, this is not suitable until you reach the legume rung of the carb re-introduction ladder of the Atkins plan.  Get a load of the nutritional stats on this recipe!  A bowl of this delicious soup is worth every single carb nutrition-wise!  I’ll definitely be making this one again!

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INGREDIENTS:

¼ c. olive oil

1/3 c. oat fiber

2 oz. onion, diced

1 c. celery, diced

½ c. green bell pepper, diced

½ c. chopped parsley

¼ c. unsalted butter

8 oz. skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

4 oz. lean smoked sausage, sliced (I used a German Bratwurst)

1 c. frozen crawfish tail meat (or shrimp)

1 tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

Dash each salt and pepper

1 T. rice vinegar

1½ c. seafood (or chicken) stock (I used homemade lobster stock)

½ tsp. Sriracha chile sauce

1½ c. no-salt diced canned tomatoes

1 c. canned canellini beans, drained (or navy beans)

Dash each salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Heat olive oil over high heat in a large non-stick pan.  Add the oat fiber.  Whisking constantly, allow the two to blend and brown to a golden maple syrup color (this is making a sort of roux).  Add the diced vegetables to cool the roux.  Add the butter now and saute until the vegetables are softening. Add the parsley and chicken and saute, stirring, until the chicken is no longer pink. Lower heat a bit and add all remaining ingredients but the beans.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes on low.  Add the beans, stir and serve at once with your favorite low-carb bread or crackers.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains:

328.7 calories

21.6 g  fat

15.5 g  carbs, 7.95 g fiber, 7.55 g  NET CARBS

23.3 g  protein

550 mg sodium

463 mg potassium

17% RDA Vitamin A, 22% B6, 44% B12, 32% C, 15% E, 27% copper, 31% iron, 10% magnesium, 13% manganese, 47% niacin,  28% phosphorous, 12% riboflavin, 36% selenium, 7% thiamin, 12% zinc