Sunday, January 05, 2014

Quinoa Paella

I don't seem to react as badly to quinoa as I do to wheat or rice, and I like it a lot, so I still eat it occasionally. I've made this dish a few times and the previous incarnations (involving tomato) haven't been very popular with the kids, but this version I omitted the tomato and everybody ate it. Not necessarily with cries of enthusiasm, but so long as most of it went into them rather than into the chickens tomorrow morning I'm okay with that. I usually add prawns to this recipe but didn't have any this time; add them if you wish (I dislike 'em but the rest of the family are fans).

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
knob of butter
2 small onions, diced
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
150g diced ham
1 cooked sausage, diced
1 chorizo, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
1/2 tsp chilli
1/2 red capsicum, diced
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 frozen spinach
chicken stock
1 tbsp paprika
salt and pepper

Cook the quinoa in stock or water until tender, using the absorption method. Meanwhile saute the onion in the butter, adding the meats and other vegetables when the onion is golden, then the garlic, chilli and other seasonings. Stir, adding tablespoonfuls of chicken stock occasionally if it's sticking to the pan. When everything is nicely browned and flavoursome stir in the drained quinoa and heat through, adding more stock if necessary.

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