Quick Vegetarian Paella

I watched Gwyneth Paltrow show Ellen Degeneres how to make vegan paella on “The Ellen Show” just the other day. The recipe is in Gwyneth’s new cookbook , “My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness”. Since the segment was definitely under time pressure, the demo went fast. I’m always on the lookout for easy vegetable recipes and the finished vegan paella looked delicious so I went in search of a similar recipe. Here’s what I found

Quick Vegetarian Paella 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil

2 cups chopped onion

2 cups (1-inch) chopped green bell pepper

1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups uncooked quick-cooking brown rice

2 cups fat-free, less-sodium vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)

1 cup water

1 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed, or ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 cups chopped tomato

1 cup frozen green peas

1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed olives, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in rice and next 4 ingredients (through thyme); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in tomato, green peas, olives, 2 tablespoons parsley, black pepper, and artichoke hearts. Cook 3 minutes or until rice is tender and mixture is thoroughly heated. Garnish with additional chopped fresh parsley, if desired.

YIELD: 5 servings (serving size: about 2 cups)

Gwyneth’s recipe had eggplants in it; I guess you can add some in this recipe too. She also made her own vegetable stock.

Vegan Paella

Ingredients

2 cups rice

4 cups water or vegetable stock

3 Tbs olive oil

1 medium onion, sliced

2 celery ribs, cut in small pieces

2 chili peppers

1/2 cup cappers

1 tsp dried tarragon

1/2 tsp saffron powder

1/2 cup green olives

250 g tempeh, cut in small cubes

1 small cans of peas, drained

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbs parsley, minced

Directions

Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook tempeh, onion and chili pepper for about 5 minutes.

Add rice and vegetable stock. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to medium low. Cover and let cook until rice is done and liquid absorbed, stirring occasionally.

Add capers, tarragon, saffron, peas, olives and salt and pepper. Simmer for one minute.

Sprinkle the vegan paella with parsley and serve hot.

Source: Vegan Paella