High risk, high reward

While Roy was cleaning up after dinner tonight, I mentioned how thrilled I was that everyone enjoyed it so much and he laughed and said that it was a very risky meal.  He wasn't joking!  I knew that going in, but hoped for the best and planned for the worst (I had some plain food for back up in the fridge for the kids, but Roy would have had to make himself a cheese sandwich!).

So what was this risky meal?  I made paella.  Well, not a true, traditional, Spanish paella, but a fusion version of paella.  I (mostly) followed this recipe.  Here's what I did in more detail:

- soaked saffron in water for 4-5 hours (Leighton helped me get it started and enjoyed tasting the saffron threads ... this was my first hint that he'd maybe be on board with eating the meal!)

- cooked white basmati rice in that water - while the rice was cooking, I sauteed onion and regular celery in a little oil
- to that, I added cooked, shelled endamame and chopped tomato

- tossed the veggies with the cooked rice (reserving some non-mixed-up rice for the kids just in case!)
- put shrimp and salmon on top of rice (it had been marinated in lime zest, lime juice, oil, salt, cayenne, garlic and ginger)

- covered the pan and steamed for 8-10 minutes on the stove top
- put into oven for broiling for color for 4ish minutes
- finally, I topped with green onion for garnish

Leighton and Riley ate a good majority of the salmon and willingly gave the shrimp a shot before politely handing it back to us.  They both ate a ton of rice and all their endamame, too.  This is what the pan looked like at the end of the meal:

So, there you have it.  I think I can safely call this one a successful meal.  High risk, high reward!

I am not always such a risky cook though.  I usually play it fairly safe.  I want my kids to eat.  I don't want things to go to waste.  Better safe than sorry, right?  And this is especially true when we have guests over.  So, when Ben, Jenn, and Julius came last weekend, I kept things pretty simple.  For starters we had caprese salad skewers, raspberry chipotle cream cheese with crackers, and watermelon bites topped with mint, feta, and reduced balsamic vinegar.  For dinner I made ribs, the hot crash potatoes I have posted about before, and some steamed green beans (I had a little helper getting them into the pot!).  Roy put some boerewors on the BBQ as well.  And for dessert, it was that delicious raspberry tart I made when my parents were visiting.