Shrimp Paella from 21 years in our Kitchen!

Serves 4 (so make triple – freezes well!)

This recipe is so incredibly flavorful!  And I mean INCREDIBLY! It’s actually one of the most beautiful dishes I’ve ever made, and will rock your world visually, as well as gastronomically!  Substitute the shrimp for chicken, turkey, or beef – all work well, but it’s meant for shrimp

There’s an hour of “sitting time” at the end that can be omitted if time is of the essence, but know this: the leftovers will be even better because the sitting time does enhance the flavor. Lastly, the fresh parsley and cilantro are essential to this recipe – don’t skimp and use dried spices here.

Ingredients:

• 6 Tbsp grass fed butter or grass fed ghee
• 16 oz large shrimp (uncooked), tails removed, peeled and deveined
• ½ onion, minced (or very finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Pinch of saffron
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Aminos
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1  red pepper, chopped
• ½ cup black olives, chopped
• 3 Tbsp capers
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 tsp oregano
• 6 oz stewed tomatoes (can)
• 2 cups  or white rice
• 1/3 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 ounce chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, sliced. You’ll find these canned in the Mexican food isle of the market.

 Prepare:
1. In a large pan, sauté onion and garlic in half of the butter until the onion is transparent.
2. Add saffron, coconut aminos, peppers, olives, capers, and bay leaves.
3. In a separate pan, sauté the shrimp in the remaining butter and oregano.
4. Drain, and then add to the first pan, along with stewed tomatoes.  Stir.
5. In a separate pan or pot, make the rice.   Yellow rice can also be used. Our favorite is Arborio.
6. Dump the rice into the contents of the sauté pan, along with the parsley, cilantro and chipotles. Stir. (Alternatively, you can keep the rice separate if you want to manage your carb load).
7. Leave the pan on the burner but turn off the heat and let sit, covered, for an hour.
8. Reheat and serve.  OMG!

Creative notes:

This is a recipe you almost can’t screw up!

It works great with the addition of chorizo (fresh Spanish spicy sausage)!

Don’t skimp on this ingredient:  Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce. Find them in the specialty food aisle of the general supermarket. They’re the potent secret ingredient to this dish! Weigh these babies out on a scale and take into consideration the weight of the sauce that’s filled up the pepper