Jambalaya is a cajun/creole dish with Spanish and French Origin. There is an interesting folklore w.r.t the name of this dish which I got to know from research on the net.
It goes like this
“A gentleman stopped by a New Orleans inn late one night to find nothing left for him to dine upon. The owner thereupon told the cook, whose name was Jean, to "mix some things together" --balayez, in the dialect of Louisiana -- so the grateful guest pronounced the dish of odds-and-ends wonderful and named it "Jean Balayez."

There are many variation to this dish both vegetarian and non-veggie and needless to say I have a vegetarian version. What I luv about this dish is that it allows you to include as many vegetables as you have in your Fridge. Indians make this a whole lot, only they call it vegetable pulao :).

There are 2 main styles of cooking Jambalaya – with tomatoes and with no tomatoes which is Cajun style. I was in my usual weekend fridge cleaning mood – so with tomatoes and other numerous veggies it was decided thus to make my version. Although, i dint think of including black beans which I later did on my hubby's insistence who kept saying that all the restaurants that he ever had it was with black beans! Oh well, dunno if its his black beans fetish or jus the fact, i was convinced thanks to the nutritional value that it had to offer.

Not only is this Healthy with lots of vegetables, its wholesome, all in one go meal with less effort for more benefit. It involves no processor, no grinding, no microwave and also I have a gas stove ( Phew! )so I am sending this as my entry to EC’s Powerless cooking event