Alfonso XIII Paella
Inspiration:
Well, this recipe is a tribute to my girls of Alfonso XIII. When I was living in Madrid my roommate, Emily, and our good friend, Danielle, and I all lived at the Metro stop of Alfonso XIII. This was our point for departure for various adventures in Madrid. I hope this paella provides a culinary adventure for you!
Ingredients:
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
3/4 c chopped eggplant
1 sweet onion diced
1-2 cloves of minced garlic
Paprika
Sea Salt
1 c white rice
3 c Chicken Broth
Saffron
3/4 lb. of peeled, deveined wild shrimp
1 c Shredded Chicken
1 c frozen artichoke hearts
1 can of rinsed chickpeas or garbanzo beans
2-4 T chopped Flat leaf parsley
Directions:
1. Heat pan with tight-fitting lid to medium high heat. Add a couple turns of olive oil.
2. Add first three veggies and saute until tender.
3. Push veggies to the side. Add a little pool of olive oil in the center of the pan. To it add the minced garlic.
4. Lightly season veggies with sea salt and paprika.
5. Add rice to the veggie mixture. Stir around to coat rice with the oil and lightly cook.
6. Add chicken broth as well as a pinch (a few threads) of saffron to the dish.
7. Add shrimp, chicken, and artichoke hearts to the pan.
8. Bring pan up to a bubble. Then turn down to simmer, place lid on top and allow to cook for about 15 minutes.
9. Once rice and shrimp are tender, add garbanzo beans, season liberally with salt, add a little extra paprika, and a turn or so of olive oil.
10. Stir together, cover and cook for another 5 minutes or less to allow flavors to meld.
11. Serve and eat!
Killer Mediterranean Salad with Hummus, Tabouleh, and Grilled Chicken
Hi Folks! This meal is a winner! My husband loves it, and I do too. It is one of those meals that just feels so natural and, therfore, good going down! Don’t let it’s simplicity fool you; this meal packs a HUGE zippy flavor punch!
Now, I actually botched this video, deleting the first two thirds of the filming, so I had to go back and redo the day after, hence the change in clothes, etc. In refilming, I forgot to redo the directions for marinating the grilled chicken, but I’ll include that info, as well as the other recipes below this video:
Grilled Chicken Marinade: Well, there is no magic here. Any time you want to add a little somethinn’ somethin’ to your meats this is the way to go. Salt and pepper both sides of the meat (and in this case, I added some paprika too). Place the meat in a plastic bag or dish. To the meat add olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and fresh minced garlic. Smoosh everything around the meat evenly. I don’t know the exact amounts. Just use your common sense. You only need enough ‘stuff’ to cover the meat, so maybe 2-4T oil per piece of meat, and the juice of a quarter of a lemon per piece of meat. Experiment…it’s pretty hard to mess up; I promise.
Grill meat, let rest, and slice at an angle against the grain. My husband does the grilling. I am no expert, but this guy is.
Hummus
1.5 C Cooked Garbanzo beans/Chickpeas
1.5 T Tahini (If you aren’t allergic to sesame)
3-5 T Lemon juice
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 t salt
1/4 C+ Olive Oil
Dump and combine in food processor or blender. Slowly add in extra olive oil if need be until desired consistency is reached. Garnish with fresh parsley if you like. Eat warm or chilled. I prefer chilled. FYI, this is a great snack for allergy folks to have around. Try dipping carrot or celery sticks into the hummus!
This recipe was adapted from this Hummus recipe I found on About.com.
Erica’s Sans Tomato Tabouleh
I wish I could eat tomatoes, but I can’t. If you can, throw 1-2 chopped tomatoes in there!
1 c quinoa
2 c water
3 medium Green onions cut into little circles
1/4 C chopped shallot
3/4 C chopped cucumber (skin on or off…your call)
1 C chopped parsley
1 C chopped fresh mint (You have to have this; it makes the recipe!)
1/2 C lemon juice
1/3 C olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
1t sea salt
pepper
- Put the quinoa in a wire strainer and thoroughly rinse with hot water to remove any bitter flavor.
- Cook the quinoa according to the package, or dump the quinoa and water in a rice cooker, to make it super easy.
- Let cool completely.
- Stir the onions, cucumber, parsley, and mint into the quinoa.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, oil, garlic and salt.
- Pour over the quinoa and toss well.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
This recipe was adapted from this Tabouleh recipe I found on Food.com.
The Salad
Lay a bed of greens on a plate, and add a few of your favorite veggies, like julienned carrots, and cabbage. On the perimeter of the plate, scoop out a serving of hummus. On the opposite site of the plate, scoop out a serving of tabouleh. Place meat on top of salad like a pinwheel coming from the middle. Garnish with orange or lemon slices, that can be squeezed on salad, and serve with extra olive oil. For mopping up the hummus and tabouleh, I like to use these GF tortillas in lieu of pita.
Homemade Chicken & Rice Soup Like Grandma Made
Remember how moms and grandmas of yore always recommended chicken soup when you were sick? Was it really healing? Yes! Old school chicken soups made with homemade chicken broth contain great nutrients from the bone marrow and are healing. Not only is it useful when you have a cold, but it also useful when you’re trying to heal a damaged GI Tract like mine. It’s not as hard as you think and is such a great way to save $ by using leftovers rather than tossing them out. I highly recommend that you make a good homemade broth every now and then! Add some veggies, rice, and shredded chicken, and you have a soup everyone will love! I love making a big pot of soup earlier in the week. That way, I not only have a dinner or two, but I also have a great lunch item ready to go, which keeps me from getting frustrated and hungry! Watch me throw this together and check out the recipe high points below the video.
Homemade Chicken Broth:
Don’t take this recipe too ‘by the book.’ Use what you have; that is the beauty of it!
Fill a Dutch Oven or big soup pot with:
Chicken meat, bones, scraps
Chunks of onion, carrot, celery
Any other veggie bits you can find (I keep a plastic bag full of veggie remnants, like the stalks, and wilted veggies, and then freeze them that way I always have good brother fodder.)
Season with salt and pepper
Cover everything with water
Bring to a boil and then simmer with the lid on. Low and slow is best. Give your broth at least a couple hours to simmer.
OR Toss all the same constituents in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Separate out meat and veggie parts and discard.
Chicken and Rice Soup:
To homemade chicken broth add 3/4 C Rice. Bring pot to a boil and then turn down to simmer. Set your timer, when the rice is half way cooked add:
1 C carrot
1 C Celery
1C+ of Shredded Chicken
Any other veggies you want to chop and toss in
When all is cooked, season to your taste with salt and pepper and enjoy!
Source: Who knows who first came up with chicken and rice?! Keep the oral tradition going!
Classic Roast Chicken with Fluffy Mashed Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts
I love a good classic, roasted chicken. It is such a warming dish, and sharing it with your family at dinner feels like the way that meals together are supposed to be. I particularly love roasting chicken, because I get multiple meals out of it: the first time we eat it, the second time when I use all the meat tidbits in pasta dishes or soups, and the third time when I use the bones to create a wholesome broth.
I have tried many roast chicken recipes. This recipe is courtesy of Cooking Light and can be found here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/classic-roast-chicken-50400000110425/. My favorite part of the recipe is the way that they turn up the heat at the end to yield a gorgeous, brown, crispy skin. I’m not going to lie, while the preparation and cooking technique were spot on, I might have seasoning combinations that I prefer, which I will share with you soon, but I’m still glad I gave this one a try for something different and encourage you to do the same.
The mashed potatoes I adapted from a recipe I saw on PBS and then printed at America’s Test Kitchen: http://www.americastestkitchen.com/ (Search ‘Fluffy Mashed Potatoes). I love the scientific approach of this show; they really look at the chemistry of the food, and their understanding enables them to create the desired tastes and textures. In this recipe I use Tempt Hempmilk (See ‘My Pantry’) in lieu of regular milk. Tempt makes the best hempmilk. It is delicious and creamy. Don’t worry, they explain in great detail on their packaging, that the hempmilk contains no THC. Using the hempmilk and ghee (Clarified dairy-free butter…See ‘My Pantry’) you are able to create wonderful mashed potatoes. The only thing I would say is that they lose their luster on leftover night, so don’t make a ton.
With the chicken and mashed pots, I serve the Brussel Sprouts and Bacon as seen in the Italian Chicken with Sweet and Sour Fennel video (Come on…I had a huge bag of sprouts from Costco I had to use up!)
Overall a great meal. Not too many heroic substitutions were necessary, and we were left with a tasty, close-to-the-Earth meal! Watch me make the meal in these two videos:
Cook Allergen Free! Tasty Allergen Free Meals Everyone Will Love! 