half-hour chicken gumbo

This is something totally new for me - Gumbo. The recipe for Half-Hour Chicken Gumbo is, in theory, a good idea. But when it came time to making it last night I got nervous. I was first unsure about the taste of the andouille sausage, afraid I wouldn't like it. It has been several years since I've even eaten sausage (I feel like the high fat (bad fats) content of sausage isn't worth it). I was then totally disgusted by the okra. For anyone who doesn't know what it is or hasn't used it, it doesn't look like food (at least to me), it wasn't fragrant or appetizing and when slicing it it looked like Slimer's poop. Lastly, I was concerned with how to eat it. Is it a soup? Is it a stew? Did it need rice? How about the seasoning? I am in completely forgein territory. So I followed the recipe and trusted that cornbread was the best side.

Once everything was assembled I had Nuno take a taste because I was so unsure. He said it was good, so I nervously took a taste. You know what? It's really good!! I would have never tried gumbo if it wasn't for cooking through Everyday Food, now I don't think I'd have any reservations about making this in the future. It's just a nice, winter warming comfort food.