Paella — Shaken, Not Stirred

I was so plumb tickled by my cooking abilities last night that I bragged about it on Facebook. I posted a picture of a Spanish style paella that I whipped up. Paella is a bit like a rice casserole cooked on the stove top, instead of the oven. Saffron is used to make the rice turn yellow in color. The rice is supposed to form a toasty crust at the bottom of the pan, so once all the ingredients are added, you shouldn’t stir it much. Instead you “shake” the pan. NOT up and down — side to side (kind of a “shimmy”) to keep the rice from sticking to the pan.

Yummy, and to the table in less than an hour.

One friend asked about the recipe, so I decided to share it here. Truthfully, I think some people were reluctant to ask for the recipe because it is vegetarian … and who in their right mind wants to admit to that? To those folks, I’ll assure you that you can just add meat! I’d add chunks of a spicy Italian sausage (already cooked) in the last ten minutes of cooking; the dish isn’t very spicy and I’d want to add a meat that had some punch.

INGREDIENTS FOR VEGETABLE PAELLA
1/2 tsp. saffron threads
2 T. hot water
6T olive oil
1 small onion, sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 orange bell pepper, sliced & seeded
1 red bell pepper, sliced & seeded
1 large eggplant, cubed*
1 cup medium grain rice or paella rice**
2 1/2 C. vegetable stock***
1 can diced tomatoes
4 oz. mushrooms
4 oz. green beans (the recipe calls for canned, but I used fresh)
1 can pinto beans
salt and pepper to taste

*Please note that I improvised from this recipe! In place of a large eggplant, I used
1 small eggplant, sliced
kernels from 1 ear of corn (shaved from the cob, of course)
3 asparagus spears cut in one inch pieces (because I wanted to use them up!)

** Don’t use long-grain rice or it won’t have a creamy texture.

***If I weren’t going for vegetarian, I’d use chicken broth.

• The saffron is what makes the rice look yellow, and it’s traditionally used in paella. Put the saffron threads in a small bowl with the 2 tbsp of hot water to let it infuse while you create the rest of the dish.
• Heat the oil at medium heat in a shallow, wide skillet. Add onions and stir for 2-3 minutes (until softened). Add garlic, bell peppers, and eggplant (I added the fresh green beans, and corn at this point). Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
• Add rice and cook, stirring constantly for about 1 minute, or until the rice is glossy and coated with oil. Add stock or broth, tomatoes, saffron and the soaking water, and salt and pepper to your taste. Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, shaking the skillet to keep the rice from burning.
• At this point, you can stir again. Stir in mushrooms, pinto beans and their juices, and if you used canned green beans instead of fresh add them. Add cooked meat if you aren’t going vegetarian. I found that I needed to add another 1/2 cup of water at this point, because I didn’t have juices from the green beans. Cook for another 10 minutes, shaking that pan occasionally. Serve it immediately.

Use your imagination with this recipe. If you absolutely detest one of the vegetables, substitute another … or delete it and add extra of a vegetable you like! The dish isn’t very spicy, so if you want to try adding your favorite spices, go for it.

Next time, I think I’ll make this using onions, beans, tomatoes, and mushroom. I might even divide it in half and add meat to Mr. Tucker’s side of the skillet. I bet he’d appreciate me for that. He is being very good-natured about this vegetarian phase of mine, but he’s still a carnivore.

Anybody have any suggestions of what you would do with this basic dish?

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. Now It’s Time For A Trip To The Food Bank
2. The Chili Controversy
3. Only The Good Friday: Mmm MMM Good Tomato Soup
4. My “Cholesterol Fix”
5. Soup’s On

Tagged as: recipes