Simple Chicken Gumbo

I am amazed at how good this is. I was looking in my pantry thinking "I have absolutely nothing to make" and I was WRONG! A few years back, I even looked up a highly-rated gumbo recipe and went out and bought a gigantic list of ingredients-- and it wasn't nearly as good as this one!<br/><br/>I did, however, make a few adjustments:<br/>1- the dark brown roux was awesome-- I was almost concerned that I burned it, but that brown (like gravy sauce) color makes the most wonderful flavor!<br/>2- after the 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 flour roux, I added only ONE large yellow onion ( you know, the cheap kind), chopped. I stirred this for two minutes.<br/>3- I added 6 cups of Chicken Broth (you know, little bouillon cubes in hot water? CHEAP) instead of just water to this base.<br/>4- I then added a can of carrots and peas, and what was left of a small frozen bag of corn (what was in the pantry/left in the freezer-- CHEAP)<br/>5- I cut up chicken tenderloins-- I grabbed a handful from the freezer, defrosted them, and then added the chicken and chicken juices (from defrosting in a plastic bag). <br/>6- I added "Cajun Seasoning". I've had this little seasoning for years and have put it on baked chicken, added it to salads- but adding it early here made the flavor AMAZING. It was a dollar at Kroger (Fred Meyer). I just shook in a bit and let it stew with everything else. (it's salt, chili, red pepper, garlic, onion, paprika from the ingredients label. that and preservatives. yum).<br/>7-As I am paranoid about under-cooking chicken, I brought this mix to medium-high and stirred every five minutes- for 35 minutes (the time a website told me you had to cook chicken thoroughly). <br/>8- Someone I dated once added slices of pear to his jambalaya about 10 minutes before serving (someone was trying to get laid!), but it added a sweetness to the savory sour mix that is irreplaceable. I had leftover cut-up small green apple slices and added three for the last 5-7 minutes. <br/>AMAZING. I poured a spoonful over brown rice and had three servings. Thank you for the recipe! I LOVED it!!!