Gathering Round The Kitchen Table Together
All around the world families gather around the kitchen table to share meals and stories about everything from how their day went to what they plan on doing in the future, often times these converstaions take place over a meal. Eating breakfast together helps people start their days and sitting down together for dinner helps families finish the day that they started.
One dinner meal that can please even the pickiest eater is paella. Paella is a spanish rice dish that can be served with vegetables, meat or seafood. There is also mixed paella that can incorporate both meat and seafood as well as vegetables. Paella is easy to make and often the most time consuming aspect of the dish is cooking the meats that will be used.
Mixed Paella:
1tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil 2-1/4 teaspoons paprika 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano salt and black pepper to taste 1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil, divided 2-1/4 cloves garlic, crushed 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1-1/2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice 3/4 tsp saffron 3/4 bay leaf 3/8 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped 3 cups chicken stock, 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil 3/4 Spanish onion, chopped 3/4 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped 3/4 pound chorizo sausage, casings removed and 3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
In a medium bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons olive oil, paprika, oregano, and salt and pepper. Stir in chicken pieces to coat. Cover, and refrigerate.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet or paella pan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, red pepper flakes, and rice. Cook, stirring, to coat rice with oil, about 3 minutes. Stir in saffron, bay leaf, parsley, chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a separate skillet over medium heat. Stir in marinated chicken and onion; cook 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and sausage; cook 5 minutes. Stir in shrimp; cook, turning the shrimp, until both sides are pink.
Spread rice mixture onto a serving tray. Top with meat and seafood mixture.
Rice flavored with saffron or yellow rice can be used to make this recipe a little faster
