Quinoa Paella with Shrimp, Chorizo & Chicken Recipe via Marcia Selden

Take a break from the classic paella, and mix up your healthy grains with Marcia Selden's recipe for Quinoa Paella with Shrimp, Chorizo + Chicken. We appreciate a one pan meal and this dish has great rich flavor from the chorizo and saffron.  Interesting food fact: Coming from the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus, it takes 75,000 blossoms or 225,000 hand-picked stigmas to make a single pound which explains why it is the world’s most expensive spice. Enjoy this recipe and send us feedback. 

Quinoa Paella with Shrimp, Chorizo + Chicken

Ingredients

½ C White Wine

¾ T Saffron Threads

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

8 Roma Tomatoes, diced 

1 C Yellow Onion, diced

4 Garlic Cloves, minced

3 C sliced Button Mushrooms

2 Chicken Breast, cut into medium sized pieces 

Pinch Red Pepper Flakes

1 t Celery Salt

1 t Smoked Paprika

1 t Cumin

1 C Quinoa, uncooked

1 ½ C Chicken Stock

1 t Kosher Salt

½ t Black Pepper

3 C Baby Spinach

8 oz. Chorizo, thinly sliced 

10 oz. 21/25 Shrimp, tail off

¾ C sliced Green Olives

¼ C Scallions, sliced

Procedure

Combine wine and saffron in a small bowl and let stand until ready to use.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent.

Increase heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms. Cook until they release their juices, 3-5 minutes. Add in the chicken, chorizo, pepper flakes, celery salt, smoked paprika and cumin and sauté 5 minutes.

Stir in the wine-saffron mixture and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add in the quinoa and stir to coat. Reduce heat to medium low and sauté, stirring occasionally until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. 

Add the chicken broth, salt and pepper, and reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook until the quinoa is almost tender, about 20 minutes, checking the water level in between to make sure the bottom isn’t burning. 

Gently stir the spinach into the paella and lay the shrimp on top and cover. Continue cooking 3-4 minutes, until the shrimp is fully cooked. Enjoy!