RECIPE: Vegetable Paella

In May of 2011 Pancake and I took a trip to Spain.  Like any good travelers, we wanted to experience the culture as much as possible, and a large part of that experience is done through food and drink.  Long story short, we just about ate and drank our weight in paella and mojitos.

If you haven't had paella before, you're missing out, and you need to start cooking this recipe immediately - like right now.  This paella is hearty and satisfying, with natural sweetness from the vegetables and some tang from lemon juice.  It's awesome.  This recipe makes a lot, which is important because this paella might be better as leftovers.

This recipe is vegan and gluten free.  If you're into meat, feel free to make it with chicken.  Seafood paella is extremely popular, so if you wanted to, you could add shrimp, mussels, clams, and scallops.  Point is, it's versatile.  
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INGREDIENTS:
1 large vidalia onion
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 container button mushrooms
Frozen corn
Frozen peas
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
2 Tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoon saffron
Salt to taste
2.5 cups brown rice
5.5-6.5 cups vegetable stock
Lemon juice to taste 
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PROCESS:

In a deep skillet sauté the onions in a couple tablespoons of olive oil until they're translucent

Add red and yellow peppers and continue to sauté

Add mushrooms and sauté until soft

Add salt, oregano, smoke paprika, and saffron - stir to combine and continue to sauté for 5 minutes

If you haven't encountered saffron before, here's what it looks like. It has a mild flavor and is crazy expensive. I've made this recipe without the saffron before - Pancake has noticed the difference. But if you don't want to drop $30 on a tiny packet if this stuff, you have my permission to try the recipe without it

Add the rice. I ALWAYS cook the rice with the vegetables before adding the liquid. It gives the rice a chance to brown a little and mingle with its paella pals

Add 5.5 cups of the vegetable stock and the lemon juice. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover.

Once all of the liquid is absorbed, check the rice...if it's too hard add more stock. Once you have a consistency you like, add an amount of frozen corn and peas that makes you happy.

And here you have it. Vegetable paella. So good.

If you're into spicy, you could add some hot sauce - I like Cholula - it's tangy and not too hot.  You could also add some fresh flat leaf parsley.  If you really want to have a party, add both.

When you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think.

Bye for now,
​TJ
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