Sweet Potato, Okra, Chickpea Gumbo

***Edit***

Sorry!  Forgot the link!  http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/09/sweet-potato-okra-and-chickpea-gumbo.html

Dearest Friends, it is my pleasure to share this delicious Sweet Potato, Okra, Chickpea Gumbo recipe with you today!  Michael and I were both overwhelmingly pleasantly surprised by how good this recipe turned out!  I look forward to making it again (probably in the winter months when soup is a bit more appropriate).  ;)

So I found this recipe on Pinterest (where I find all my recipes) by searching for "Healthy Okra Recipe".  My grandparents gave me a pound of okra out of their garden.  The only way I've ever eaten okra is fried, and I know that's not healthy, so I was looking for a different way to cook this fresh, free veggie.  ;)  I'm not sure I've ever had Gumbo before, but I knew I had sweet potatoes in the fridge and I thought I had a can of chickpeas in the pantry (from my phase when I was making my own hummus), so I thought I'd look at the recipe.  As I looked through the list of ingredients I was thrilled to find I had everything I needed for the recipe but the celery (because eww, celery is gross and I avoid it when I can).  So I put the recipe on my meal plan for the week!  Don't you just love it when things work out?

We didn't make it to the store yesterday because we were busy with church and the kids taking naps a lot of the day, so Michael picked up the celery for me on his way home.  I (for the most part) try not to alter new recipes too much so I can taste what they're supposed to taste like before I decide if I like them or not.  That means no omitting the celery.  I ignored this rule to use up the yellow bell pepper in my fridge instead of buying another one since the recipe called for green.  I'm also cheap, so if we have something that will work, I use it first.

The recipe starts by having you saute onions, but it doesn't call for oil.  I looked over the recipe several times, but nope, no oil.  It did suggest putting a pinch of baking soda with the onions to quicken the process.  I thought that was weird, but I tried it and my onions turned yellow quickly and released a lot of liquid and cooked quickly, though not burning, it was crazy!  Like I said before, I used a yellow bell pepper instead of green.  I thought it worked just fine.  I used my grandparents' canned tomatoes for the tomatoes in the recipe.  I didn't drain them because I like my soup runny and I knew this one was going to be plenty chunky.  I didn't have vegetable broth, but the recipe says you can use water.  I was afraid the water was going to leave the gumbo bland, so I added two chicken bullion cubes.  Did I mention this gumbo is vegetarian?  I bet it would be wonderful with shrimp and sausage too!  The recipe says you can use smoked paprika or regular, I used regular because it called for a decent amount and smoked paprika has a powerful flavor.  I didn't want it overwhelming the dish.  However, next time I may give it a try.  We have both hickory and mesquite liquid smoke.  Since the recipe didn't specify, I chose mesquite.

This recipe was seriously good, friends!  I was skeptical with the okra and chickpeas.  I knew the sweet potatoes would be great!  But the flavors really mixed and deepened in the hour that it was cooking.  Don't skip the Bay Leaves, I think they added a lot to the flavor!  Yum!  So good!  Looking forward to the leftovers!  Even the kids liked it (once we convinced them to try it)!  Michael and I give this recipe 4 thumbs up!  Give it a try, now or in the fall, you will not be disappointed!  And if you are, Michael and I will eat your leftovers.  ;)