Quinoa Paella- 3 varieties!!!

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Laura_beau
Laura_beau Posts: 1,029 Member
in Recipes
After my success with the quinoa risotto- I got to thinking........ Why not make quinoa paella?

So, I rummaged around my pantry seeing what I had and actually made a mish mash of paella styles (part fish, part meat, part veggie) and it was delicious!!!

Below is the 'master recipe' for which you can pimp any way you like. I have posted 3 different style of paella for inspiration.

Mother Recipe: Serves 4

2 cups quinoa
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 cups low sodium chicken/vegetable/fish stock (broth) you choose.
Pinch of saffron threads, dissolved into stock
1 large roasted red pepper- cut into strips
1 cup peas
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley (to garnish)
1 lemon, cut into quarters (to garnish)
Ground coarse black pepper

Approx cal count for mother recipe: 142 per portion

Method: Sautee the chopped onion & garlic in a little spray oil. Add the quinoa to the pan and then add the saffron infused stock. Stir in the tomato puree. Simmer for approx 12 minutes & add the peas. The quinoa grains should be cooked (You can tell this as the centre of the grain goes opaque & the outer 'husk' begins to break off). Add the roasted red pepper at the end so it doesnt break up.

Serve sprinkled with fresh herbs & lemon juice & one (or a combination) of the below:

Then use the above recipe and turn it into one of the following:

Chicken & Chorizo quinoa paella-
make with chicken/veg stock (broth) and add 2 chopped chicken breasts (1/2 breast pp) and 20 thin slices of chorizo sausage (5 slices pp)

will make recipe 307 cals per portion

King prawn (Shrimp) & Mussell/Clam quinoa paella:
Make with fish/veg stock & add 4 large prawns (shrimp) per person & either mussells or clams in their shell.

Will make recipe 235 cals per portion

Vegan/Vegetarian quinoa paella:
Add 1x roasted aubergine (Eggplant) & 2 x Courgette (zucchini) and artichoke pieces (I used canned, washed & drained, 2 halves pp) & kidney beans/ black beans or pinto beans- 1 cup.

will make recipe 255 calories per person.

I heartily reccomend you pimp your paella with coriander (Cilantro) or basil, chopped fresh chilli pepper (or dried chilli flakes), olives and any extra veggies you have or fancy!

Replies

  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    Thanks!!!
  • marsgirlly
    marsgirlly Posts: 71 Member
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    I just got back from Spain after 6 weeks - oh BOY do I want to make this!!!
  • sphares
    sphares Posts: 15 Member
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    bump!
  • djkymba
    djkymba Posts: 174
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    I eat quinoa all the time and this sounds DELISH! I'll be making this today. How much is a serving, 1/2 cup?
  • bmonahan115
    bmonahan115 Posts: 121 Member
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    bump, omg you just made my day!! i've been getting to bare bone sin my kitchen and i see this big box of quinoa that everyone hated the first time i prepared, the chicken and chorizo recipe i'm certain will make us all converts! soooo pumped to try them all though!
  • Laura_beau
    Laura_beau Posts: 1,029 Member
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    I'm not sure of the exact serving size.

    It's 1/2 cup quinoa per person plus your meat/ veggies/ fish on top of that.
  • Laura_beau
    Laura_beau Posts: 1,029 Member
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    bump, omg you just made my day!! i've been getting to bare bone sin my kitchen and i see this big box of quinoa that everyone hated the first time i prepared, the chicken and chorizo recipe i'm certain will make us all converts! soooo pumped to try them all though!

    You should try the quinoa risotto recipes I posted on the recipes thread too- v.yummy and naughty tasting for not many cals.
  • sandybeach11
    sandybeach11 Posts: 198 Member
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    Muchas gracias for sharing!
  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
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    Sound good!!!
  • roylawrence87
    roylawrence87 Posts: 970 Member
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    Oh dear! Gonna pimp this!
  • McFatterton
    McFatterton Posts: 1,358 Member
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    bump! Always looking for new quinoa recipes! Thanks!!
  • bmonahan115
    bmonahan115 Posts: 121 Member
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    bump, omg you just made my day!! i've been getting to bare bone sin my kitchen and i see this big box of quinoa that everyone hated the first time i prepared, the chicken and chorizo recipe i'm certain will make us all converts! soooo pumped to try them all though!

    You should try the quinoa risotto recipes I posted on the recipes thread too- v.yummy and naughty tasting for not many cals.

    haha now i've got lame musical tunes playin' in my head! my hero!! haha i'll have to save it for cheat day (i'm a Primal eater so i rarely do dairy unless for my cheat day) but sooo worth it! your a rockstar! did you think of em first, or did you have the quinoa and decide to try these out and they worked well? either way, thank you again for sharing! :D
  • Laura_beau
    Laura_beau Posts: 1,029 Member
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    I absolutely adore anything carby or comforting, so I have been trying to experiment with healthier ingredients to get that same comfort food feeling.

    The risotto was an accident- I added too much stock to my quinoa whilst cooking. The quinoa was overcooking, so I took it off the heat and realised that it was kinda risotto-like in consistency, so added the cheese etc.....

    I thought up the quinoa paella as I saw a tasty looking paella recipe in my magazine and decided to experiment with that one.

    I've had it with turkey chilli & curries too- it's lovely

    Me & quinoa are best friends now :o)

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