Vegetable Paella

To me, paella always seemed like such a fancy dish to make. I have eaten it occasionally, but have been hesitant to make it at home. Until I saw Martha Rose Shulman's recipe in the New York Times for Simple Vegetable Paella.

Reading through the recipe, I thought "Hey, I can do this. I can make paella this week." What a revelation!

I started by chopping all the vegetables. It can be so relaxing to just put some tunes on and chop vegetables. I have red and green peppers, diced white onion, chopped garlic, and halved green beans.

This isn't just regular tomato sauce. It's freshly grated tomatoes! 

Once the vegetables are chopped, I started simmering the vegetable broth while sautéing the onions, garlic, and peppers. And got the rice all ready to go. I decided to use short grain brown rice because it's my favorite. But it's probably not the traditional paella rice. Oh well, it has more fiber. But, it did take a bit of extra liquid and time to cook. So, make sure you factor that in.

Once the vegetables are sauteed, I added the rice and veggie broth and left to simmer until the rice was cooked. So easy!

And, the surprising part? I realized this was a very common food my mom used to make when I was growing up! And her mom used to make it! She always called it Spanish Rice. And now that I think of it, paella is a type of Spanish Rice. Eating this for dinner brought back memories of eating a dish very similar as a child. 

There were a few differences, of course (like using Ketchup instead of freshly grated tomatoes), but who has time to grate tomatoes when you've got small children to feed?

I will definitely be making this again. I might halve the recipe next time, though. Because my husband and I were eating Paella left overs for a really long time! And, that's no fun!



Vegetable Paella
Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman's Simple Vegetable Paella


1 qt vegetable stock (plus a bit more water if using brown rice)
Large pinch saffron threads (about 1/2 tsp)
2 TBSP olive oli
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 green pepper, cut into strips
2 cups short grain brown rice
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 lb ripe tomatoes, grated on the large holes (or use canned chopped tomatoes for a shortcut)
1/4 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half
2 or 3 baby artichokes, trimmed and sliced
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 c cooked edamame
salt and pepper

Bring the stock to simmer in a medium saucepan.  Crush saffron threads with your fingers and place in a small bowl. Add 1 TBSP warm water and set aside.

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring until tender. Add garlic, peppers, and a bit of salt. (I always go easy on the salt. There will be salt in the vegetable stock too, so you don't want to over do it.) Cook until the peppers begin to soften. Add the tomato paste, paprika and rice. Cook, stirring until the grains begin to crackle (about 1 minute).

Add the grated tomatoes and cook, stirring until they cook down slightly and smell fragrant, about 5 minutes. Stir in the saffron with its soaking water, scraping in every last bit with a rubber spatula.

Add the stock, green beans, artichokes and chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Stir once, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer without stirring until the liquid has just about evaporated, about 10-15 minutes. Add the edamame. Continue to simmer until the rice is dry, another 5-10 minutes. If the rice is not cooked, add a bit more water and continue to simmer until the rice is soft.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Remove from heat and serve.