Paella in Five Easy Steps

As promised, I prepared my energy boosting and muscle enhancing paella with the ingredients mentioned in my last post, a "Chicken and Artichoke Paella Shopping List". As I prepared this recipe, I jotted down notes on the preparation, so I can share it with all my friends at work and with all of you!

1. Combine one cup of water, rice, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Cook for ten minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
2. As the rice is cooking, heat one tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Once the oil starts smoking, add the chorizo and cook until it is lightly browned. The browning process should take about two minutes per side. Next, transfer the chorizo to a plate.  In the leftover fat from the chorizo, cook the chicken until it is lightly browned. Transfer the chicken to the plate with the chorizo.
3. To the now empty skillet, add one tablespoon of oil and the onions. Cook the onions until softened; softening of the onions should take about five minutes. Next, stir in the garlic and saffron. Mix the saffron for about thirty seconds or until it is fragrant. Next add the tomatoes, rice, and the remaining half cup of water. Bring the contents of the pan to a boil and scrape up all of the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. At this point, reduce the heat to medium-low and allow it to cook for about ten minutes. At this point, the rice will be fluffy and the liquid will be totally absorbed.
4. Stir in the peas, chorizo, chicken, and artichoke hearts. Don’t forget to put the juices that accumulated on the plate of chorizo and chicken in as well. These juices really add flavor!  Stir the contents of the pan for about two minutes, while seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve your paella and enjoy!

This paella has less ingredients than a typical paella making it easier to prepare and shop for. Who doesn't love that? The best part is that this paella packs the full punch of flavor of the traditional Spanish dish. Try it out and leave comments with your thoughts about the chicken and artichoke paella!

Until next time, cook, keep dancing, and enjoy!

Chicken and Artichoke Paella Shopping List

One of the largest components to being successful as a dancer is making sure that you meet your nutritional needs. For this reason, dancers are always sharing new recipes and nutritional tricks with one another. One of my favorite meals to make, which provides me plenty of energy and performance enhancing benefits, is a Chicken and Artichoke Paella. It is super easy to make and extremely yummy!

Here is a list of ingredients you will need on hand to prepare this dish:

•       2 cups of water
•       1 cup long-grain white rice
•       Salt and pepper
•       2 tablespoons vegetable oil
•       8 ounces chorizo sausage, sliced half an inch thick
•       2 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into thick slices
•       1 onion, chopped
•       3 garlic cloves, minced
•       ¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
•       1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
•       9 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and patted dry
•       ½ cup frozen peas

Here are a couple of tips when shopping for your ingredients. First, ask for the chorizo sausage at the deli counter and ask them to cut it for you. They have the large deli slicers, making it easy for them to slice the meat, which will save you a lot of time at home. Second, don’t stress about the type of saffron you buy. Unless saffron is the main flavoring ingredient in your recipe, you will be fine using any brand.

Add the ingredients that you don’t already have to your shopping list and check back for my step-by-step instructions on how to make your own Chicken and Artichoke Paella.

Eat well and keep dancing!