Hope you enjoy this short but (hopefully) entertaining video about how I make ramen.

The easiest kind of paella is the kind that someone else makes. Or I guess the kind that Jeff makes because this is the 3rd time he’s made it for me.

Let’s be real here, did you really think I would make this? Nah bro.

Disclaimer: This is an easy paella… not legit paella. So haters are not welcome.

First things first, ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buy the spice by weight! It will be a lot cheaper if you don’t already own the spices 😁.

First, heat up a big pan with some oil. Then chop up those chicken thighs and sauté them until cooked. Add in the paprika, thyme, basil, and cayenne pepper to season that chicken.

Then slice up those sausages and throw them into the pan. Meat on meat on meat!!

After dicing up the onions, sauté them into pan until softened.

Then pour in the crushed tomatoes and 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of water. Mmm starting to come together.

Then mix in the box of yellow rice, and however much white rice your heart desires (2 cups?). Use 1 cup of chicken broth to rinse out the rest of the tomato juice in the can. You can also use it to swish out the leftover rice grains that stuck to the bowl that you rinsed your white rice in (rinse your rice 3x!).

Now, get some greens in their and pour in those frozen green beans. Yum yum.

After some simmering, about 15 minutes, it should start puffing up. Keep the heat at medium and stir every 2-5 minutes. DO NOT LET THIS BURN. You will be sad because the whole thing will be ruined. If you get bored, turn on White Collar (my new fave Netflix show I’m watching hehe). Holla Matt Bomer! Stir in those chopped green onions and a couple of green bay leaves (more greens).

Now plop in those frozen mussels and fold them in. Make sure they open to ensure they are cooked!! Top it with some cilantro hehe 😋.

Now put on the lid and let it simmer for 45 minutes at medium heat. Stir it from time to time, again, do not let it burn. Taste it to make sure the rice is cooked. If it’s still a little crunchy, cook it a little longer and add more water as needed.

Lastly, put some sliced lemon wedges on top for presentation. Tada!

It was soooo delicious. Shoutout to the happy couple for feeding me and my roommate such a delicious meal.

 

Today as I was leaving work, I stopped to admire a rainbow. I hadn’t seen a full one in a long time, and this one was beautiful. I paused for a moment to ponder why there was a rainbow while it was so sunny, and that’s when I saw rain slowly starting to pour at a diagonal across the sky … getting stronger and stronger until I vowed once again to check the weather in the morning.

On my way home, I desperately wanted to treat myself to some Chikfila but I had just vowed to my roommate that I needed to eat “healthier” and that meant less eating out.

When I got home, I went through the same thought process. Boil veggies so I can eat faster or roast it so that it will taste better? Hmmm 🤔  the struggle.

I decide to brave it and wait a little longer and roast the veggies. I was tired of eating mush.

I cut up some tomatoes (48 cents a pound), broccoli (precut), potatoes, and mushrooms (pre-sliced). Please let me take a moment to say how much I really like mushrooms. Ok, thank you, yes they are so delicious.

I toss it with some oil and salt, and roast it at 425 degrees for about 25 min. Now I want to throw a disclaimer here and say my potatoes were a little al dente. Maybe 450 degrees would’ve been better.

Wow look how yummy they look! If you’re wondering if your potatoes are cooked, just take a toothpick and insert it in. If it goes in easily, it’s done. (Btw, you can use any veggies you have on hand!)

In retrospect, the potatoes still look raw. So yeah, please use your best judgement.

I also made steamed eggs! My rice cooker has a steamer basket fitted on top, but if you don’t have that that’s ok! Google how to hack a steamer here.

Steaming eggs is easy! If you do it right, it will be silky smooth like tofu/flan. If you do it wrong, you will regret taking the time to do it. Just kidding, it will be fine. Easy peasy.

All you have to do is whisk two eggs with 2-3 tablespoons of water or chicken broth. Whisk it WELL, making sure to get all the clumps out. If you really want to follow best practices, put that mixture through the sieve!

Once you’re done, it will look like the frothy mixture below. Pour it into a shallowish flattish steamable bowl (not plastic!). Then steam for 7 minutes. Do not overcook it or it will not taste that good!!!

WARNING: Be careful when taking the bowl out of the steamer. It is hot hot hot! 🔥

Once you’re done pour a reasonable (1 tablespoon) amount of soy sauce over it to flavor it. Ok, so you can see I didn’t put it through the sieve or whisk the egg mixture that well. There’s a white cloud in the middle where the clump egg white hasn’t combined properly with the egg mixture. No worries, it still tasted fine 😊.

Wow look how silky smooth it looks AND tastes.

Ok, I attempted to take a picture of this deliciousness by plating both the roasted veggies and steamed egg.

Tada! Sorry for the bad lighting/plating … I need to work on that.

Steamed egg is a lot more filling to me than regular eggs (i.e. scrambled, over easy). It’s also delicious like a delicacy and I highly recommend it if you’ve never tried it.

Hope this encourages you to take the time to cook! If I can do it, you can do it.