Yea, for 30 years I've been making gumbo come first cool weather...so I did today. I made turkey, sausage and leftover grilled chicken thighs. The roux had a whole half cup of flour, at 40 carbs, but there are at least 8 servings, so I think it's ok. I had to make it thick so dh wouldn't miss the rice too much....what self-respecting cajun has ever dared to make gumbo w/o rice? A low carbing one in south louisana, that's who...it was good, shah...I add rosemary and 2 bay leaves. Helen

Good for you! I've found the bread/pasta/rice is really just a carrier for the stuff I love.
Have you tried the cauliflower "rice"? I know there's a recipe around somewhere. People have said it's really good.

It's really funny that you wrote about gumbo tonight. My mom just reminded me last night that we are "due" for a special gumbo family dinner. I thought, "Flour and rice...no way" and said so. She said "Oh, sorry, I didn't think about your new diet". I just told her I'd have a couple of bites without rice and then eat grilled shrimp and crab legs soaked in garlic and butter. I think she realized I'd be okay. I hope so! I'm sure not missing much. I'm just glad you reminded me that there's really not a whole lot of flour per serving by the time you add everything else. This way I can have a small serving and enjoy it!

You can try getting thin and thicken (?) brand thickner. It's jsut xanthum gum mostly. I used it in a crockpot gumbo. Unfortunetly I used a tad too much trying to compensate for using too much water :\

I make gumbo and jambalyia all the time, the LC way. Ditch the rice and thickener, and throw in finely chopped cabbage, grated cauliflower, zucchini chunks and/or turnip chunks instead. Extra veggies make it appear thicker without having to thicken the broth. The veggie substitutes also work well in chicken soup and beef soup. Hearty soups make great cold winter morning breakfasts! (if you are the oatmeal or hot cereal kind of person)

One cup of flour has 97g of net carbs, and just for refference, a slice of bread has 12g of net carbs.
So basically, your dish has the equivalent of a slice of bread in each serving..
Not sure this is in the Atkins spirit where the carbs should come from Veggies, not grain or sugar...

Yes, I've been worried to for I love Gumbo once it starts to get colder. I always look forward to colder weather to have my first bowl of okra gumbo with Chicken and sausage. We use the savoy roux (premade) I will have to find a jar and look at the carb count. Of courese the it will have to be without the rice And of course no real potatoe salad on the side. THis will take the getting used to. But I can handle it.

Thanks for the advice AngelaR. I'll try the cauliflower in mine. I think it will probably be the right texture I'm looking for. Do you make a roux? If you do, how do you do it without the flour?

cpj

all the soups I used to make with roux are now rouxless. I find that by adding extra veggies the soups are still bulky..but not thick the way roux makes them. They still taste yummy. This time of year it's a Saturday morning ritual for me to get a big pot of soup of some kind going.

It might still tastes great, but if you want real cajun (southern) gumbo you have to have roux. Gumbo isn't gumbo without it.

I used to think that too..it isn't real without the rice or the flour thickener. One of the things I've learned to deal with is that I can't have/don't want the "real" version of the foods that are high carb. The balance I've found is find a satisfying substitute, or find a way to permanently remove them from my life.

I make my roux with only 4 T flour and 3 T oil and add three cans of broth for the liquid. Then I thicken the gumbo further with okra. THEN I cook the rice separately, and my DH spoons the gumbo over rice, and I just have the gumbo in a bowl.

DEE-lish!

So you still make a roux, but with much less flour and oil. Is all the liquid you use the 3 cans of broth? I really love gumbo, but I'm willing to give it up if need be. If I can find a way to get the same (or close to the same taste) without the carbs, I'm going for it. Thanks for your answer.

Hi! Sorry I didn't reply to your question!

I made a link with my gumbo recipe:
http://home1.gte.net/floresnw/gumbo.htm

Don't really know how to post links, hope that works!

I know what you guys mean. I love cous cous in cold weather, but the grain is so high in carbs. I really have to figure out a way to use cauliflower to sub the grain