A year ago my husband and I were fortunate enough to be able to commemorate our "36th Anniversary" by taking a trip abroad to Portugal and France.
Exciting, adventurous, romantic, educational, beautiful and gratifying would be how I would describe our trip. We had the time of our lives!
From the beginning planning stages we both agreed that one of the things we would do was sample local fare from whatever region we visited. Our first stop was Lisbon, Portugal.
We stayed in a lovely hotel --Hotel Avenida Palace in the center of Lisbon. http://www.hotelavenidapalace.pt/en/hotel-overview.html?gclid=CPm7xIXmvrkCFUid4AodeBkAxw
By being centrally located we were able to walk everywhere. Each evening we ate our dinner at a different restaurant in the square.
Feeling adventurous our first dinner in town, was Portugese Paella. We were delighted at the taste of chorizo, shrimp, olives, and spices with delicious flavors that all melded into this awesome dish.
With our trip being one year ago I decided to recreate something similar to our dinner for my husband last week.I made a Chicken Paella with Sausage and Olives from Ellie Krieger, the same dish we introduced to our daughters by teaching them how to cook this last Christmas. It is such an easy recipe that we all love.
Hope your family enjoys this as much as mine!!
Chicken Paella with Sausage and Olives
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
3 ounces chorizo sausage, casing removed, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 10-ounce package frozen peas
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1/4 cup sliced green Spanish pimento-stuffed olives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground tumeric
Small pinch of saffron threads
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large, skillet over med-high heat. Use a skillet that has a cover. Add chorizo and cook until brown. Add chicken and stock, stirring until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.
Heat remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in skillet. Add onions, and cook, until softened and translucent, 3-5 minutes. Return the chicken and chorizo to the skillet and add chicken broth, peas, rice, tomato, olives, salt, pepper, turmeric and saffron. ( I did not purchase Saffron because it is very costly and the dish tasted great without it!)
Bring to a boil, cover and transfer to oven. Cook until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 25-30 minutes.
*** I have an induction cooktop which requires "special" cookware. I made this dish with my pan on the stovetop and transferred the contents into a pyrex casserole dish with a cover for baking.
SOURCE-- So Easy Cookbook by Ellie Krieger
http://www.amazon.com/So-Easy-Luscious-Healthy-Recipes/dp/B00D1GD7JG
