I thought it was time to break up the sugar rush with a little savory interlude today. I still find it hard to photograph and blog about savory food; I think, mostly, I'm too impatient for everybody to dig into the hot food and eat! Since I usually cook family dinners, there's also the deterrent in the form of no natural lighting. But enough complaining, let's talk about a nice one-skillet dinner.
To me, this is a little pan of comfort food, hearty but really not too heavy. Along with some vegetables (roasted brussels sprouts in my case), it was a welcomed meal on a chilly spring day. It's an easy "paella", and I leave the paella in quotation marks and call it that loosely because this is a shortcut, everyday at-home kind of version that can be placed on the dinner table in under an hour.
I'll tell you right off the bat, there's no saffron in this "paella". That might be heresy to some if we're talking the real thing; you can easily add it if you want but I prefer to save my precious saffron for absolute necessity. The great thing is you can take this base and keep it simple, or take it to a more authentic place if you like. In this particular pan, I went with convenience and speed. I used turkey kielbasa and shrimp. You could start with some chicken or go with another type of sausage, even track down some chorizo if you're inclined. Next time, I'd love to work in some mixed seafood.
It was easy enough to toss all this together in one pan for a recent dinner. For me, a big dish of flavorful rice like this - no matter what you call it - is sheer comfort food.
.JPG) |
| An easy "paella": rice, kielbasa sausage, shrimp, and peas cooked with tomatoes, broth and spices |
I'll tell you right off the bat, there's no saffron in this "paella". That might be heresy to some if we're talking the real thing; you can easily add it if you want but I prefer to save my precious saffron for absolute necessity. The great thing is you can take this base and keep it simple, or take it to a more authentic place if you like. In this particular pan, I went with convenience and speed. I used turkey kielbasa and shrimp. You could start with some chicken or go with another type of sausage, even track down some chorizo if you're inclined. Next time, I'd love to work in some mixed seafood.
It was easy enough to toss all this together in one pan for a recent dinner. For me, a big dish of flavorful rice like this - no matter what you call it - is sheer comfort food.
