Sunday, June 6, 2010

What's for Dinner?

I've been MIA with posting new recipes lately, but never fear, I've been stockpiling food photos. Building on Erikawas' post about Rice A Roni, here's another great rice based dish. Pair this with a glass of sangria and enjoy!

Shrimp "Paella"

First, a history lesson (thanks to Wikipedia).

Paella is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century. Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain's national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish. There are three widely known types of paella:

- Valencian paella (white rice, green vegetables, meat - rabbit, chicken, duck - snails, beans and seasoning)

- Seafood paella (replaces meat and snails with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables)

- Mixed paella (a free-style combination of meat, seafood, vegetables and sometimes beans)

Other key ingredients include saffron and olive oil.

The dish you see above loosely resembles seafood paella, hence my use of quotes. So, here's the basic recipe.

Ingredients
1 package Goya yellow rice (this rice mimics the saffron color and flavor of traditional paellas)
2 medium zucchinis
2 medium carrots
1 medium spanish onion
3/4 cup vegetable stock
1lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail off

Instructions
Cook the rice according to the package (omit the oil or butter) and set aside.
While the rice is cooking, chop the vegetables into bite sized pieces.
Spray a large saute pan with cooking spray.
Saute onions and carrots until tender; about 4 minutes.
Add zucchini and saute for 1 minute.
Add the stock and shrimp.
Cover and simmer on low until shrimp has turned pink and stock has reduced.
Add the rice and mix all together.

You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand, throw in a can of red beans, etc. Experiment!

Servings = 4
WW Points = 6

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