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Paella with Chicken

Dairy-Free

Serves 6

The quintessential Spanish dish. This version's got chicken, artichoke hearts, red peppers and green beans, but you'll find a list of variations at the end of the recipe. You can use either seafood OR meat and vegetables, but tradition discourages mixing seafood with meat. And don't overdo it—remember, the rice is the star!

• 3 cups chicken stock
• pinch of saffron threads, steeped in 1/2 cups hot stock
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1–2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, halved
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into long strips
• 2 artichokes, leaves peeled off and hearts quartered
• 7 cloves garlic (1 whole clove; 6 cloves lightly crushed)
• 1/8 pound green beans, a healthy handful (1/8 pound) , ends trimmed
• 1/2 medium onion, grated on a box grater
• 1 large, ripe tomato, halved and grated on a box grater (discard skin)
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (or other medium grain rice)
• 1/4 cup garbanzo beans

Bring stock to a simmer. Turn off heat and add the saffron-infused stock and taste; add salt if needed.

Set paella pan over medium high heat and add olive oil. Brown chicken and remove from pan. Add garlic and cloves plus red pepper strips and lower heat to medium. Cook 10–15 minutes, or until pepper is soft. Remove from pan and add artichoke hearts and green beans. Sauté 10 minutes or until tender. In the meantime, peel the skins off the red peppers, taking care to keep strips in one piece. Bring the stock to a simmer.

Remove artichokes and green beans from pan and replace with the onion and tomato. Season with salt and cook, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated and it's thickened, turning a dark reddish-brown. Add the garlic cloves and rice to the onion tomato mixture, stirring for 2 minutes. Shake the pan to spread the rice out evenly, then plop the head of garlic in the middle. Pour in the simmering stock, the garbanzo beans, and chicken and artichoke hearts. Lay the red pepper and green beans over the top. No more stirring from here on out.

Cook over medium high heat, moving the pan often to make sure everything is cooked evenly. When the rice begins to appear, lower heat to medium low. Continue to cook, rotating pan, until the liquid has been absorbed. Cover the pan with foil and cook another 2 minutes, moving the pan constantly and focusing the heat on the outer circumference of the pan. The rice will start to crackle as it caramelizes. If it starts to burn, remove from heat immediately. Let paella rest, covered, 5 minutes. Then bring the whole pan to the table and eat directly from it!

Variations:
For Seafood Paella substitute fish stock for chicken stock, and use any combination of clams, shrimp, scallops, calamari, and mussels instead of chicken and vegetables.

For Vegetarian Paella substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock, and use tofu instead of chicken, and your favorite vegetables and mushrooms.

Nutrition Info

Per Serving (313g-wt.): 380 calories (110 from fat), 12g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 12g protein, 55g total carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 5g sugar), 20mg cholesterol, 450mg sodium