Spanish Meal To Make You Go OLE'!

This is a dinner meal that is tasty, filling and comforting. I was inspired by the flavors of Spain when I invented this dish. I hope you can recreate this and make your special ones feel the love. Buon Appetito!

Perfect Roast Chicken 

Marinade chicken parts overnight by sealing the chicken in a plastic bag along with the following ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Lime juice
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Oregano powder
• Salt and pepper
• Lots and lots of garlic cloves

Roast the chicken in a pan for 20-25 minutes at 200 degrees celsius.

Tomato, Risoni and Vegetable Side Dish

1. In a pot, saute diced onions, diced carrots and diced potatoes with a little olive oil and a pat of butter. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add some water and your favorite canned tomato sauce (ragu). I use canned Del Monte chunky tomato sauces variants.
3. Add 1/4-1/2 of a beef cube for more flavor and some herbs like oregano, rosemary, marjoram, thyme and sage. Let it simmer.
4. Adjust the consistency by adding more water, season as you go along.
5. For the last 5 minutes, add in the risoni and corn kernels. Stir regularly because the pasta has the tendency to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Note: The risoni side dish can stand on it's own as the carb for your meal. You can totally add more vegetables like broccoli, peas, etc. I would have added broccoli if it wasn't so damn expensive this season.

Aside from the risoni side dish, you can also serve steamed rice with the chicken (colored with a dash of turmeric while cooking) for people who would like some rice.

*Risoni looks like rice but it is actually a rice-shaped pasta, similar if not the same to Orzo. San Remo brand is available in Robinson's Supermarkets.

Calamansi Cooler

1. Make your usual calamansi juice sweetened with a spot of honey.
2. Swipe the rim of chilled glasses with calamansi juice and flip them over and coat with sugar (place the sugar in a saucer).
3. Add ice cubes, slices of calamansi fruit and pour over your juice.