Main Ingredients – Rice, Chicken, Vegetables
This is a traditional meal in Spain and Latin America, similar to paella.
This can be a simple meal with three basic ingredients or an elaborate one with layers of flavors.
We like the elaborate one as long as there are enough ingredients to make a big portion that stretch to the next day.
The idea is to layer each flavor from the start and then blend into the rice as it cooks.
Ingredients
2 Cup Rice (Washed, Uncooked, any rice, use what you have at home)
3 Cup Stock
2 TSP tomato paste
1 tsp capers
1 tsp black olives
Onion and Garlic
2 Cups Vegetables (peas, diced carrots, capsicums, tomatoes)
1 Cup Fresh herbs
Meats – 4 chicken thighs or any parts into the portion,
4 deshelled prawns (we keep shells for the stock), slices of back bacon (optional)
Method
In a pan, we browned our chicken parts, prawns, and bacon.
Removed from pan one after the other.
The seasoned oil remained in the pan
to which we add the chopped onion and garlic until fragrant.
Stir in tomatoes paste, capers, and black olives.
Salt and Pepper as desired.
Add uncooked rice and stir in the above.
Place meats and seafood on top of the rice mixture,
Stock (or water) is next, to simmer, blend with the favorable paste and cook the rice.
Add liquid half to one cup at a time, simmer then add.
If there is wine, we add this too, about half a cup.
Vegetables and herbs are last.
Cover the pot on slow fire until the rice is cooked.
PS. Add more water, stock or wine as needed if the rice is not cooked
The liquid will carry the flavors into the rice as it cooked
Let the liquid simmer on slow fire until it is absorbed by the rice as it cooked.
