Shrimp Etouffee- Cajun Classic (not to mention delicious) Meal

I only realized once pacing the isles of my towns small "Village Market", that I had forgotten to either find or think of a good recipe that I could use for dinner tonight. I was discouraged and was thinking of just calling my dad for the ingredients to one of his famous chicken dinners when I spotted a few food magazines to the left of my grandmas favorite chocolate fudge swirl ice cream. I found todays recipe from a magazine called "Cooking Light", having decided almost immeadiately on a shrimp dish on page 136. This is what the ingredients were -all of which (excluding the green onions) I either found in my kitchen or at the market.

Ingredients:
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
cooking spray
VEGETABLES:
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2/3 cup diced celery
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onions
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon salt-free Cajun seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I used steak sauce)
1/2 cup chopped green onions (I did not use these)
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat parsley divided (did not use this when I made it, and it still tasted great)
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 30 shrimp)
4 cups hot cooked long-grain rice (I used Texmati Long grain low fat)

Directions:
1. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer. Cover and remove from heat.
**before doing this you should chop all of the vegetables and measure them. (I used a food processor)
2. Melt 1/4 cup butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour to pan; cook 8 minutes or until very brown, stirring constantly with a large whisk. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup broth mixtrue to pan; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add remaining 3 cups broth mixture, stirring with a whisk until smooth; set aside

3. Melt remaining 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. butter in a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add all of the vegetables and cook for 10 minutes stirring every once in a while.

Stir in 3/4 cup water. Add tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, garlic, salt, black pepper, and red pepper to onion mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add reserved broth-flour mixture and sause to pan, stirring well to combine; bring to a simmer. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add green onions, 1/4 cup parsley, and shrimp; cook 3 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Serve over rice.
Yield: 6 servings

This recipe has a delicious blend of thai and carribean flavors that is filling but not so much food that you feel overwhelmed. Depending on how much of the Cajun spices you put in, you can control how hot/spicy the final meal is.
**The magazine recomends serving this with a dry rose wine from Spain: e.g. El Coto Rosado from 2006.
If you prepare most everything during the day it saves a lot of time and labor for the hours before you want the meal cooked.
If you would like to serve this dinner with a side I recomend serving it with Snow Peas, Bok choi, or shaved esparagus. This is a time consuming meal but it is definitely worth it as I recieved rave reviews from my mom, dad, and grandmother!!!
Enjoy-