Poor Man's Paella
As I posted yesterday, we came up with an easy and awesome Paella recipe that I can't help but sharing. Yes, this is a craft blog but aren't a lot of crafty people cooks too? ha!
*2-1/2 cups Jasmine rice (not quick rice)
*3 cups of chicken stock (i used canned and cut down on the salt for the rice)
*2 cups water
*3 tablespoons of olive oil
*2 cloves of garlic
*2 lbs of frozen shrimp
*1 lb of imitation crab (i know - eye roll - but i love the stuff)
*10 green olives (cut in half)
*1 can of corn, drained
*1/2 can of green peas, drained
*30 capers (my family loves these!)
*1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (you can omit if you don't like heat)
*Fresh cilantro (taken from the garden - about 5 leaves)
*2 dried bay leaves (take these out when ready to serve)
*pinch of saffron (not necessary but makes the paella authentic)
*1/2 teaspoon of salt
*1 package of Knorr Sazon with Coriander and Annatto (available in your grocery store's spice aisle or the hispanic food section). This gives it the golden color
*pepper to taste
Throw the rice and liquids (water, stock and olive oil) into a large pot and bring to a rolling boil. Throw everything else in the pot at the same time, place a lid on it and lower the flame to low. Cook 20 minutes without lifting the lid and it's done! I served with cut lime on each plate to squeeze over the rice. Again, not necessary but paella is a heavy meal (especially in July) and the lime seems to "lighten" it!
Sounds like a lot of ingredients but you make up for it in the ease of cooking. This fed my family of four (my son eats as much as hubby does) and we had enough left over for an awesome lunch the next day!
