My NZ version of Paella: A seafood and meat one-pot dish

Seafood or meat? carbs or veggies? Why not all together in a gorgeous one-pot dish?
Today I'm sharing a rich nevertheless healthy Spanish-inspired one-pot casserole: A Paella.

Originally from the province of Valencia in Spain, there is not one version of the Paella, but many local or family versions. Here is my NZ quick - well relatively quick - and easy recipe!
Paella is a mix of white rice, green vegetables, meat (including rabbit, chicken and other) and/or seafood, beans, saffron-based seasoning and olive oil. This dish is originally cooked in a pan (not a pot as above) but you need a very large pan, so my version uses a pot (iron-cast). This cooking ustensil inspired the name of the Paella after the old French word for pan: paelle.

You'd be surprised how well this dish matches NZ food. It is actually a great dish to showcase the delicious - although a bit too big for my taste - green mussels from Coromandel and NZ shellfish like cockles freshly picked from Cockle Bay, Whangaparaoa - a great kid activity by the way! we love it!

Don't worry about the quantity of ingredients, it is still very easy to make. You can also adapt the recipe to your fridge and pantry, but my favourite version this mixed seafood and chichen Paella. Although today I had no prawns which also go very well in this dish.

Ingredients (6 servings)

- 750g cockles

- 24 green mussels

- 6 chicken drumsticks

- 1 whole squid, sliced*

- 1 whole hot chorizo, sliced*

- 2 tomatoes, peeled* and diced

- 250g green beans*
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 large red (or green) capsicum
- 1 onion, chopped
- 10g butter
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 1 shallot
- 1/2 cup white wine (Pinot gris)
- 1 cup of water
- 1 1/2 cup of parboiled rice
- 1 1/2 cup chicken stock*
- 1 1/2 cup seafood stock (included in this recipe)
- 1 dose of saffron*
- salt, pepper

Cooking instructions 

(~ 1.5 hour)

The preparation

First prepare all your ingredients: slice the chorizo, the squid and the capsicum; chop the onion and the shallot; peel and dice the tomatoes; cut the green beans' tails.

Avocado, ricotta and shrimp spaghetti - As quick as lightning!

Back to working days... And I've been quite lazy about shopping this week-end, so I had to deal with what was left in my cupboards and what was left of my time after hours to make dinner.
I quite like this kind of cooking challenge, although it does not necessarily bring up my favorite style of food. But tonight I was very happy with my creation given that it took barely 20 mins off my time watching my little one first adventure, exploring our place and crawling backward #stupidproudmom

Today, on the menu: Avocado, ricotta and shrimp spaghetti - humble, but incredibly quick n' easy! Perfect for busy working moms and daddies willing to give a hand in the kitchen ;) Would also work well for students busy with their dissertation or exam preparations, cook beginners wanting to impress friends, families watching on the budget and starving people looking for a healthier option than fish n' chips... Well, it should work for anybody though!

Prawn, ginger and coconut vermicelli soup - Thai inspiration

I quite knew it wouldn't be easy to conciliate children, dinosaurs, work, a passion an obsession for cooking and eating, a healthy and balanced dietary, and a cooking blog. Well I never claimed I would post fabulous recipes everyday, anyway. But what I did not expect was that No.2 would start teething and having poor poor or quasi non-existent nights, the same week I would finally start my blog!
Consequence: As usually, when I am under stress or tired, I compensate with food - Catch 22!
Tonight, I thus chose a rich and comforting, but so easy, Thai-inspired prawn vermicelli soup, a tiny bit spicy (or more just as you like!)

Ingredients (6 servings)

- 36 raw prawns, peeled (tail on)* 

- 300g rice vermicelli (dry)

- 350g of mixed veggies including: strips of red capsicum, broccoli, thin strips of carrots, chopped spinach, chopped green beans*

- 10g chinese black mushroom (dry, also found as dried fungus)

- 165 ml coconut cream

- 1.5 L chicken stock* 

- 40g fresh ginger, crushed

- 1 or 2 tsp red curry paste (to your taste)