Spanish chicken and quinoa

Here's a quick and easy paella-style dish using quinoa that I've been making lots of over the holidays. I've adapted it from a recipe in Rena Patten's latest book, Everyday Quinoa, (NewHolland RRP $39.99), which I can recommend if, like me, you're adding more and more quinoa into your cooking.

Ingredients

750 g	Boneless chicken thighs, skinless (Main)
3 tsp	Smoked paprika
1 Tbsp	Extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp	Butter
1	Chorizo sausage, or 2, chopped
1	Large onion, chopped
1 clove	Crushed garlic
½ tsp	Saffron threads
1	Lemon, zest and juice
1 ½ cups	Quinoa, rinsed and drained
3 cups	Chicken stock, hot
1 cup	Pitted green olives
½ cup	Flat leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Rub the chicken with the paprika until well coated.
2. Heat the oil and butter in a large, deep frying pan and brown the chicken all over on a medium-high heat until almost half-cooked and a deep golden colour.
3. Remove from the pan and keep warm by covering with foil.
4. Fry the chorizo until just crispy, remove from the pan and set aside.
5. Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic.
6. Soak the saffron in a little of the stock while the onion is cooking.
7. Add the saffron mix to the pan with the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.
8. Add the quinoa and stock, stirring everything together well, then return the chicken pieces to the pan and nestle in with the quinoa.
9. Scatter the olives and the chorizo over the top.
10. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for another 5-8 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.
11. Take off the heat and leave to stand for 5-10minutes. Sprinkle with the parsley and lemon juice to serve.

Tip:

Omit the chorizo if you don’t have it. Add some prawns in at stage 8 and some mussels or other shellfish.