Easy Paella Recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon paprika *
2 teaspoons dried oregano
        salt and pepper to taste
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts,
cut into 1-inch pieces		  
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided  
3 cloves garlic, crushed **  
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes  
2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice  
1 pinch saffron threads ***  
1   bay leaf  
1/2 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped  
1 quart chicken stock  
2   lemons, zested  
2 tablespoons olive oil  
1 yellow onion, chopped  
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped  
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined  
1 pound chorizo sausage, casing removed and crumbled ****
In a medium bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons olive oil, paprika, oregano, and salt and pepper.  Stir in chicken pieces to coat.  Cover, and refrigerate.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet or paella pan over medium heat.  Stir in garlic, red pepper flakes, and rice.  Cook, stirring, to coat rice with oil, about 3 minutes.  Stir in saffron threads, bay leaf, parsley, chicken stock, and lemon zest.  Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium low.  Simmer 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a separate skillet over medium heat.  Stir in marinated chicken and onion; cook 5 minutes.  Stir in bell pepper and sausage; cook 5 minutes.  Stir in shrimp; cook, turning the shrimp until both sides are pink.

Spread rice mixture onto a serving platter  Top with meat and seafood mixture, including liquid.

Serves 6 - 8 people.

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Recipe Notes: 
* I used smoky Paprika and a little sweet Paprika and I used approximately 2 tablespoons.
** I LOVE garlic and I used about 8 - 10 cloves of garlic! 
*** Saffron threads are very expensive at most American stores.  If you can find a middle eastern store, you can purchase it at a  much more affordable price. 
****     I mis-read the recipe and sliced the sausage and it was excellent.  I used a Spanish style chorizo sausage that was the consistency of normal smoked sausage. Consequently, it was easy to slice and the casing did not need to be removed.  Mexican chorizo is very different and I don't believe that it will work with this recipe as it is soft and will not crumble or slice.  If you cannot find a chorizo that is "sliceable" or that can be crumbled, I would suggest maybe Andouille sausage might work as well... but it probably won't be quite as tasty.