Aptos, CA psychologist: good tasting Spanish paella for you depends on your personal tastes? Yes!

And I would use fresh vegetables. Instead of rabbit how about a handful of big shrimp put in the last 10 minutes…

What about working parents who want to make this recipe ahead of time? The could brown the meat ahead of time and set aside. Then make the broth overnight or during the day in a crock pot set on Low. Get the broth delicious by cooking it slow and long. Then add everything and cook the rice in 20-25 minutes at the end.

Below is the original recipe & how I would change it (gotten by Google: paella from Valencia)

Iingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 (4 pound) whole chicken, cut into 6 pieces
1/2 (2 pound) rabbit, cleaned and cut into pieces
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled (how about 50% more garlic …)
1 tomato, finely chopped ( how about 2-3 medium tomatoes….)
1 (15.5 ounce) can butter beans
1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas
1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen green beans (how about fresh COSCO green beans or asparagus?)
salt to taste
1 teaspoon mild paprika, or to taste … (make it 2 teaspoons … )
1 pinch saffron threads … (make it 2 pinches ..)
dried thyme to taste (optional) (how about fresh spices!)
dried rosemary to taste (optional)
4 cups uncooked white rice, or as needed

Directions

Heat a paella pan — where does one get one??— over medium-high heat and coat with olive oil. Add the chicken, rabbit and garlic; cook and stir until nicely browned. Move the browned meat to the sides of the pan, and add the tomato, butter beans, peas, and green beans. Season with paprika, and mix well.

Fill the paella pan almost to the top with water, measuring the water as you put it in. This is to help you to determine how much rice to add, as paella pans come in different sizes. Bring to a boil. Simmer for about 1 hour to make a nice broth.

Season with a generous amount of salt, and just enough saffron to make a nice yellow color. Season with thyme and rosemary if desired. The goal is to make a rich tasting broth that will soak into the rice to make it delicious. Stir in half as much rice as the amount of water in the pan.

Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. (When I looked at traditional paella pans they said that traditional paella is cooked with NO cover…)

FOOTNOTE
The original recipe says: “Rabbit can be very hard to find so you can just use a whole chicken instead. It also may be easier to use boneless chicken but then you don’t get any fun extras, like hearts and livers. If you do use the hearts and livers don’t put them in until later as they cook very fast. They will however add a nice flavor to the rest of the dish….

So, how would you change the above recipe to make tasty paella? And what pan would you use? DrCameronJackson@gmail.com