Braised Chicken Gumbo

Leftovers make this chicken gumbo an absolute breeze. The only prep you’ll need to do is to dice a bell pepper and slice some okra if you’re using fresh. That’s it! If you don’t have leftover chicken and sauce from Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken, you can use 2 cups shredded cooked chicken and 2 cups canned diced tomatoes instead of the leftover sauce.
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup sliced okra, fresh or frozen (thawed)
¾ cup instant brown rice (see Tip)
⅛- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 medium red or green bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded chicken from Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken (recipe follows)
2 cups sauce from Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add bell pepper and flour and cook, stirring, until the pepper is beginning to soften and the flour is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add chicken, sauce, broth, okra, rice and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the flavors meld and the okra is tender, about 10 minutes.

Tip: If you want to use rice that is not “instant,” stir in 1 cup of any leftover cooked rice instead. Or, if you have time, add ½ cup of quicker-cooking whole-grain rice, such as Bhutanese red rice or Kalijira rice, and an additional 1¼ cups of chicken broth before adding the okra. Cook until the rice is almost tender, about 25 minutes (or according to package directions), then add the okra and simmer until it is tender.