Laissez les bon temps rouler! Let the good times roll! I jumped a few states ahead in our Dinin' USA tour, as Mardi Gras was March 5th. I decided to hit Louisiana a bit early and celebrate Mardi Gras from my house since I couldn't be there. One of my favorite places I have visited is New Orleans, so I took one of their key dishes for dinner, and took a cue from the colors of Mardi Gras for delicious cupcakes with a little flair. Pair this with a Hurricane and you have a Mardi Gras meal ready to party with the best of them!
Gumbo
The best part of this is that it goes in the slow cooker and cooks itself!
Ingredients
* 2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, undrained * 1 small can of tomato paste * 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, diced * 1 large sausage link, sliced
* 8 ounces frozen sliced okra * 1 (14.5 ounce) can reduced- sodium chicken broth * 1 green pepper, chopped * 1 large onion, chopped * 2 stalks celery, chopped * 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning * 3 cloves garlic, minced * 3 basil leaves * ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper * ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper * 1 lb frozen medium shrimp (thawed), peeled and deveined * 4 cups hot cooked white or brown rice
Directions
In slow cooker combine all ingredients except shrimp and rice. Cook on low 5-6 hours (using raw chicken. Cook around 2 hours if using precooked chicken). Add shrimp and heat around 10-15 minutes until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Serve hot over rice.
Seriously amazing comfort food, this is a great dinner for busy days when you won't have much time to prepare food. The calorie count is for 10 servings.
Mardi Gras Cupcakes
Ingredients
* 1 box yellow cake mix
* 1 cup water
* 1/3 cup melted butter
* 4 large eggs
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 container cream cheese frosting
* Yellow food dye
* Purple food dye
* Green food dye
* 1 cup granulated sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Place baking cups in cupcake tray. Prepare cake mix according to directions, for a richer cake I used melted butter instead of oil and one extra egg. Separate batter into 3 bowls. Add 5-6 drops of green color in one, and 5-6 drops of purple in another. the third can stay as is or you can add yellow coloring. Spoon these into cups without mixing colors. Fill about 2/3 full and bake 18-21 minutes. Allow these to cool.
Meanwhile separate the sugar into three bowls and add 3-4 drops of coloring to each bowl, one green, one yellow, one purple. Whip frosting to make fluffier and add to pastry bag. Pipe onto cupcakes, then sprinkle sugar on top of frosting. Simple and festive!
The calorie count below is per cupcake as this makes 24 cupcakes.
