To those who know I am not eating meat, I wrote this some time back and never published it. Hope my meateating friends will enjoy it.

I love New Orleans inspired gumbo but I don’t eat pork and I am allergic to shrimp. I decided to make a seafood gumbo but I really wanted the sausage flavor. I thought what better to do than to try my hand at making andouille sausage with ground turkey.

I added these spices, compliments of allrecipes.com and the foodnetwork.com:Emerill Lagasse, to the ground turkey.

• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon ground paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 5 teaspoons hickory-flavored liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Finding the seasonings to begin was simple process but turkey is not as fat as pork. What to do about that? My first thought was to add olive oil or coconut oil. Then a light bulb flickered. Bake some turkey thighs and use the dripping from that. The added bonus is meat prepared for another meal.