During the summer months, we often have a lot of family and guests visiting and staying with us. At times, it can feel like we are running a hotel and restaurant! (Which I often get asked, when I’m buying 25 pound bags of rice at the market). With all the visitors, massive amounts of food come and go though our house to accommodate breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
For meals, I love to have one long table that kids and adults both sit at. While I’m not a big fan of buffet style dinners, it does make serving large groups of people much faster and easier. One of our favorite buffet style meals is Paella, especially in the summertime. Pair it with a wonderful green salad and it can cater to both kids and adults alike. There are so many ingredients in Paella, that you can customize it any way you’d like.
Ideally, to make great Paella, you need a proper Paella pan, which needs to get oiled after every use so that it does not rust. Key ingredients to always have on hand are smoked Spanish paprika, Saffron, and Chorizo Sausage. An authentic Paella cooker is great, but you can also improvise cooking on a gas stove, as we do.
A great reference for anything Spanish is http://www.tienda.com/index.html?CMP=KNC-Google&gclid=COzXj6ji-7ACFcHb4Aod2TNPDw . There are a million recipes for great Paella, but the best thing about it, is that there is no wrong way to make it. By combining ingredients that you love, you can make whatever Paella sounds great to you! This is usually how we cook, starting from a recipe online, and then changing and adding ingredients that the kids are sure to love.
