Love seafood? Try Paella.
The dish Paella is said to to be a perfect union between different cultures from Spain , the Romans for the pan, and the Arab that brought rice.
There is an old story of how an Andalusian king’s servants created rice dishes by mixing the left-overs from royal banquets in large pots to take home. It is said by some that that word paella originates from the Arab word “baqiyah” meaning left-overs.
However, Paella is a Valencian word that means frying pan, from which the dish gets its name. Valencian speakers use the word paella for all pans. The pan is made of polished or coated steel with two side handles.
Paella is a delicious dish, and here’s the recipe that I inherited from my grandmother ( aaaand no…my grandmother is not Spanish.)
Ingredients:
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion chopped
• 6 large cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 small green or red bell pepper diced into small pieces
• 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 or 2 large tomatoes chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 10-12 mussels cleaned properly
• 8 ounces (250 g) calamari rings
• 21 ounces (600 g) shrimp
•I added some crab legs (no shell)
• 2 cups medium grain of jasmine rice (I didn’t have jasmine rice, so I replaced it with basmati rice)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika (sweet or smoked)
• 1/2 teaspoon each garlic and onion powders
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf chopped parsley
How to prepare:
Heat 3 to 4 spoons of olive oil in a saucepan over the fire, then add the chopped onion and saute it with garlic until it becomes golden, add the chicken breast cut into small bite-size pieces. I suggest a few pieces of chicken breast only. Sauté the chicken with the garlic and onion.
Then add the fish pieces to the mixture. Sauté again.
Add the green peas, chopped tomato, and the green pepper.
Add chopped parsley, then add paprika, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper.
In a different pot, boil the rice for 10 minutes. I like to add paprika and curry to the rice to get a golden color.
Add the rice to the fish and vegetables and stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking and burning to the pan underneath. Add a cup of hot water if necessary.
Once cooked, add slices of lemons for the taste.
Bonne appétit!
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Carolina Mom 