How to Make Paella

18 January 2013, by gj

Mandolin recently received a wonderful birthday gift from Mr. and Mrs. Jones, a box of assorted Spanish spices and other foods. As he was looking through the flyer included, he came upon a selection of items for sale to make ‘paella’.

gather your ingredients

Since it was akin to cooking in a wok on a grill, he was intrigued. There were numerous recipes on the internet, and after perusing a few, he went back into the kitchen.

Spanish spices

“Well,” he said, “I’m going to try it; but I’m not clearing the snow off the grill.”

saute your aliums

Here’s what he did:
In a cast iron skillet, lightly oiled, he sauteed until caramelized
1 chopped leek
2 chopped elephant garlic cloves

To this he added:
2 cups chopped kale
1 cubed small yellow squash
1 1/2 Tbl. Spanish Paprika
2 cubed avocados
1 chopped small tomato
1 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup smoked sweet peppers
2 cups each chick peas, black beans (If homegrown, soak and simmer first. If canned, rinse well.)
1 cup veggie broth (low salt)
1 cup water
1 cup rice (Spanish or Jasmin scented is best)
Pinch cumin
1/2 tsp. smoked salt
1 Tbl. sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato sauce
Pinch of saffron

so much color, oh my

Simply mix everything together and bring to a simmer, cooking about 15 minutes until rice is almost done.

more Spanish treats

blend the flavors

He added about 3/4 cup thinly sliced Spanish cheese, then turned up the heat to sear the bottom of the dish. Cook another 5 minutes.

with Spanish cheese

Let me just say that it was outstanding, the best thing we have eaten in quite a while.

colorful, flavorful, and healthy as heck

Of course you can add meat or seafood and substitute some of the other ingredients.
If you don’t have saffron, or what STW referred to as ‘crack for kitchens’ just leave it out. If you can afford it though, it has a fabulous flavor.

When doing a little research on it, I discovered saffron is actually the dried stigma of crocus. Hmm…

Categories: recipes, vegetarian

Subscribe