Cheater Paella

As the days are gradually becoming longer and warmer, I find myself craving more seafood but I still want bold flavors.  After hemming and hawing over what to make for Sunday dinner this week, I settled on Cheater Paella.  I call it “Cheater” because I do not use the traditional cooking method – outdoor over a gas or charcoal grill or over a wood fire.  I also do not use a proper paella pan – I do not even own one.  Instead, I cook my Cheater Paella on my stove in my 12-inch sauté pan and a standard 10-in stock pot.  Last, some of my flavors are just a smidge off traditional and I use whatever rice I have on hand instead of searching out that medium-grain, rounded Spanish rice.  Even still, my Cheater Paella retains the essence of traditional paella with the convenience of cooking with what you have on hand in your home.

Paella is the type of dish that one looks at and thinks it is incredibly difficult to make because it has a long list of ingredients.  This could not be farther from the truth.  In fact, it is actually quite easy to make and alter according to your wants and needs. 

The one thing that I cannot stress enough is that it is absolutely OK to alter a recipe such as Cheater Paella.  Sometimes I do not have a specific ingredient on hand so I skip it or use an alternative ingredient that I already have in my cupboard.  Seriously, make use of what you have on hand!  If you have food allergies or picky eaters, make substitutions for those items so the resulting dish fits your needs. 

I often do not bother with exact measurements when throwing a recipe together.  In the case of my Cheater Paella, I use the measurements for the meats more as guidelines than as requirements.  My original recipe called for 2-pounds of chicken breast, 1-pound of shrimp and 1-pound of kielbasa.  At my grocery store, the kielbasa and shrimp came in 12-ounce packages, and I picked up a 1 ½ pound package of organic, free-range, hormone and antibiotic-free chicken breast.  Though the meat ingredients I picked up only totaled roughly two thirds of the amount called for in the recipe, the resulting dish was not lacking in any way.  Likewise, if I had felt like it, I could have substituted regular pork sausage or chorizo for the kielbasa, and clams for the shrimp.  Or, I could have substituted in all seafood instead of including chicken and kielbasa.  No matter what, it would have turned out delicious.

The evening before I planned to make my Cheater Paella, I took a few minutes to cut the chicken into 1-inch chunks and mix up the marinade.  Then, I mixed them together and stored them in a covered glass mixing bowl in the refrigerator overnight.  Seriously simple.  Immediately following that, I decided that I had enough time to clean my shrimp so when the time came to use it the next day, I could just grab it and toss it into the pan.  Easy peasy.

When you are getting ready to actually cook your Cheater Paella, I find it easiest to start by dicing your red pepper and onion, chop one bunch of fresh parsley, zest two lemons and mince three cloves of garlic and set them all aside so everything will be ready to add at the appropriate time.  Once you have done that, it is easy sailing.  Everything comes together in a snap and you end up with an incredibly simple dish that will have your family begging for more. 

Allow your rice to form a nice crust on the bottom!

 Cheater Paella

Serves 8

Marinade Ingredients

·           2 tablespoons olive oil

·           1 tablespoon paprika

·           2 teaspoons dried oregano

·           Salt to taste

·           Pepper to taste

Other Ingredients

·           2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

·           4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

·           2 cloves garlic, minced

·           1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

·           2 cups uncooked medium-grain white rice

·           ½ bunch Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

·           1 quart chicken stock

·           2 lemons, zested

·           1 medium onion, diced

·           1 red bell pepper, diced

·           1 pound kielbasa or other sausage

·           1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1.     In a medium bowl, mix together all marinade ingredients.

2.     Chop chicken then add to marinade and mix well, making sure to coat all pieces.  Cover and rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour, though longer is better.

3.     Heat 2-tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

4.     Add garlic, red pepper flakes and rice and cook, stirring to coat rice with oil for 2 – 3 minutes.

5.     Add parsley, chicken stock and lemon zest and bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  No need to stir.  You want it to form a nice crust on the bottom.

6.     Simmer for 20 minutes.

7.     Meanwhile, heat 2-tablespoons of olive oil in a separate skillet or pan over medium heat.

8.     Add marinated chicken and chopped onion and cook for 5 - 7 minutes. 

9.     Add kielbasa and chopped bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes.

10. Add shrimp and cook until they are cooked through and no longer translucent.

11. Top cooked rice with meat, seafood and vegetable mixture and serve hot.

Note:  I did not want to waste my lemons after completely zesting two of them so I sliced what was left and added it to a couple of pitchers of water.

What is your go-to recipe when you crave seafood?  Comment below and let me know!