First, prep by chopping all your veggies — onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery and parsnip.
Now it is time to make the roux! For those of your Yankees, the roux is the base of the gumbo. Make the roux by adding oil and flour into a pot on high heat. Stir constantly for 10 minutes. The roux will be a light brown color when it is done — I couldn’t capture it since I didn’t want it to burn. Do NOT use a plastic tool because the pot and roux will be very hot. You can wear a kitchen glove to keep your arm from getting a Cajun char and burning off!
Once the roux is a light brown color, add the onions, bell peppers and celery to the pot. Keep stirring the roux and the veggies for about five minutes or until they begin to get soft.
Next add in the water and remaining veggies — carrots, green beans, okra, parsnip and diced tomatoes.
Top off with spices. Stir and cover. Let simmer on medium/low heat for about 40 minutes. I also let my gumbo simmer another 20 minutes on medium heat uncovered.
Serve the gumbo over rice and enjoy! With all the veggies in this gumbo, your dinner will be low-fat and the party be phat on Fat Tuesday!
