Fire Roasted Vegetarian Gumbo

Preheat oven to broil.

Arrange the serrano, banana, and jalapeno chile peppers on a

baking sheet and place in the oven. Watch carefully and broil just

until the skins blacken and blister, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the peppers

and continue broiling until all sides are blackened. Remove the

peppers from the oven and place in a sealed paper bag to steam.

After 15 to 20 minutes, remove peppers from the bag and peel off

the crispy black skin. Remove stems and seeds from the peppers,

coarsely chop, and place in a bowl.

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat until a pinch

of flour sprinkled over the oil just begins to bubble. Whisk in the rest

of the flour and cook, whisking continuously, until the mixture is well

blended and dark brown, about 20 minutes. Once it becomes dark

brown, remove the roux from the heat.

Place 2 tablespoons of canola oil into a deep soup pot and heat

over medium-high heat. When the oil is just about to smoke, stir in

the celery with half of the onions and bell peppers. Cook and stir

until the vegetables are tender and the onion is transparent, about 5

minutes. Stir 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth into the pot. Cover, and

simmer until almost all the liquid is evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir the serrano, banana, and jalapeno chile peppers, along with the

uncooked bell peppers and onions, garlic, Cajun seasoning,

smoked paprika file powder, into the cooked bell peppers and

onions. Stir the roux and 1 cup of stock into the vegetable mixture

until the roux dissolves. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Add the

tomatoes, sweet potato, parsnip, red beans, black-eyed peas, okra,

and remaining stock. Simmer uncovered 30 minutes more. Season

to taste with salt and pepper.

Ingredients Directions

Course Dessert

Cuisine Chinese