October 6 2022 by Jill Wallentin![Jill Wallentin]()
, photo by Lenka Selinger![Lenka Selinger]()
, nutritional review by Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE![Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE]()
in Recipes, Dinner, Meal
, photo by Lenka Selinger
, nutritional review by Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE
in Recipes, Dinner, Meal Low carb paella
Paella is a beautiful, satisfying Spanish meal combining seasoned rice, meat, and seafood. It's cooked in one giant "paella," hence the name, and its exact ingredients are disputed among chefs around the country. Our head of recipes, Jill Wallentin, gave it some low carb love by swapping out cauliflower for the rice — so it has all the flavors of the Spanish coast without the carbs. A bonus? Traditionally, it's eaten straight out of the pan, so we'll take the easy clean-up as a win!
USMetric
servingservings
Ingredients
- 1 (2 lbs) 1 (850 g) cauliflower, grated
- 10 oz. 280 g chorizo, sliced
- 1 lb 450 g boneless chicken thighs
- 1 (4 oz.) 1 (110 g) yellow onion, dicedyellow onions, diced
- 4 4 garlic clove, mincedgarlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp 2 tsp smoked paprika powder (optional)
- 2 tbsp 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- ¾ cup 180 ml chicken stock
- 2 tbsp 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ tsp ¼ tsp saffron threads
- ½ lb 220 g unpeeled shrimp
- ½ lb 220 g fresh mussels
- ¼ cup (1⁄8 oz.) 60 ml (4 g) fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 1 lemon, in wedgeslemons, in wedges
This recipe has been added to the shopping list.
www.dietdoctor.com
Making low carb simple
Instructions
- Grate the cauliflower using a grater or a food processor. Alternatively, chop it finely with a knife. Diagonally slice the chorizo and chop the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Heat a large frying pan with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and smoked paprika powder. Fry until translucent.
- Add the chorizo and chicken thighs. Season with salt and pepper. Fry, stirring from time to time, until browned.
- Add the chicken stock, tomato paste and saffron. Stir until combined and taste; add more salt if needed. Add the cauliflower rice to the pan, stir and cover with a lid. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the shrimp and mussels. Cover for 5 more minutes or until the shrimp and mussels are cooked.
- Before serving, garnish with fresh parsley and lemon wedges.
Tip
To clean the mussels, transfer them to a colander and rinse them under cold water. Use a paring knife to scrape off barnacles or dirt on the shells, and check for beards (the furry patches). If there are beards, pull them out with a knife and discard them.
Important! A mussel that isn't closed — or doesn't close when you give it a tap — needs to be discarded. A raw open mussel is a dead mussel, and one dead mussel will ruin the whole pot!
Discard any mussels that remain closed after cooking.
Can this meal be Frozen ?
Thx
Hi, Andrew! It would work, but we would not recommend freezing and reheating shellfish, as it gets very “rubbery.”