I’d like to take a brief moment to pat myself on the back for a week of school lunches packed for my son. I realize it was only one week and people have been doing this for years for multiple children but for me this was a quite a feat. Only 38 more weeks to go!
Vegetable paella, what should I say about this? I had to take a break from pasta and I wanted something that was a different flavor profile from what we normally eat and this fit the bill. I think it’s great and it’s actually pretty quick. The weirdest thing about this is that my kids LOVED it. When I got to the part of the recipe that called for cayenne pepper I just figured I wouldn’t give them any and I wasn’t until my son requested to try it. Since he wanted it of course my little daughter wanted it too and strangely enough they both ate a ton. I don’t know what to make of this, it has a kick to it and like most kids they do not like spicy food but this passed the test for them. It even was requested, supplied and eaten as a school lunch….
Olive oil
1/2 spanish onion – finely chopped
1 small red pepper – cut into strips
1 small yellow pepper – cut into strips
1/2 bulb fennel – cut into strips
2-3 cloves garlic – crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 cup Calasparra rice
6.5 tbs sherry – I used Madeira
1 tsp saffron threads
salt
2 cups boiling vegetable stock
3/4 cups fava beans – I used lima beans
1/2 cup peas – optional
10 plum tomatoes – halved lengthwise
5 small artichokes in oil – drained and quartered
15 or so kalamata olives – pitted
2 tbs parsley – chopped
lemon wedges for serving
In a large pan or dutch oven (I got a new taxi cab colored Le Cruset pot, check it out!)
heat up the oil and gently fry the onion for about five minutes. Add the bell pepper and fennel and cook for another 5 or so minutes or until the vegetables are soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.
Add the bay leaves, paprika, tumeric and cayenne and stir well. Add the rice and stir throughly for 2 more minutes before adding the sherry and saffron. Allow to boil down for a minute and then add the stock and the salt.
Turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 20 minutes or until most of the cooking liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Don’t stir the rice while cooking, leave uncovered.
I’m assuming your lima/fava beans are frozen so you can use this time to quickly heat them in boiling water. I also used about a 1/2 cup of frozen peas as well so I just added those to simmer with the lima beans, drained them both, and set aside until I was ready for them.
After most of the cooking liquid has been absorbed remove the paella from the heat and taste to see if you think it needs more salt but don’t stir the rice and veggies. Scatter the tomatoes, artichokes, lima beans and peas if using. Cover the pan tightly and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
After the 10 minutes remove the top and scatter the paella with olives and parsley. Serve immediately with a wedge of lemon.
Bright Food 