If you’ve been to tapas restaurants, you’ll know what paella is: That delicious, savory rice dish full of all kinds of wonderful ingredients so typical of Spanish fare. One taste, and it may seem an intimidating dish – perhaps too hard to replicate at home.
Use whatever vegetables are in season from your garden for the freshest paella.
Photo Credit: Mary Moore
After you add the vegetables, meats and broth, bring your dish to a simmer and stir in the rice.
Photo Credit: Mary Moore
Paella is a great dish to prepare for your family or guests. It’s easy, delicious and makes a lovely presentation.
Photo Credit: Mary Moore
Or is it?
Surprisingly, paella is actually an easy dish to prepare – so much so that you’ll want to make it again and again. And the best part is that you can include all kinds of ingredients fresh from your garden! Springtime dishes can include onions and peas, while summer or fall paella can be flush with tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. In fact, paella is a great way to show off just about any kind of homegrown vegetable!
In this recipe, I use packaged rice that contained saffron, but you can use any rice you prefer. White rice will give this dish a light and fluffy taste, while brown and wild rice will give it a heartier feel. You can season the dish with a few strands of saffron (which can be purchased at many health food stores) or with a packaged seasoning that contains saffron, such as Sazón Goya® con Azafrán.
How much seasoning you use depends on your personal taste and how many spicy ingredients you use. For example, if I use saffron rice, onion and/or garlic, I don’t add any additional seasoning. Feel free to experiment with hot peppers or cumin if you like your paella to have a bit more kick to it. (Hot sausage can also add a lot of zip.)
Easy Paella
Ingredients
- 1 5-ounce package of long grain rice with saffron (or ½ cup of your rice of choice)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cans of chicken broth
- ¼ cup butter (optional for richer sauce)
- 2-4 cups of at least three of the following meats or fish: chicken, sausage, shrimp (thawed) or other seafood
- At least 5 of the following vegetables (diced): 1 medium onion, 1 large tomato, 1 green pepper, 1 eggplant, ½ cup of mushrooms (without stems), ½ cup fresh peas
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup almonds or cashews
Directions
You’ll also need a paella pan or a skillet that can be used on your stovetop, as well as in the oven. Start by cooking on the stovetop. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Place raw chicken and/or sausage into the pan and cook until lightly browned. Add shrimp, cooking until they’re pink on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside to be diced later. (The shrimp can just be peeled.)
In the same pan, add diced onions, peppers, mushrooms and eggplant and reduce heat to low. (Save tomatoes and peas until later.) Add a little oil if the pan is too dry. Using a garlic press (or just dice into small pieces), add 2 garlic cloves. Sauté until onions are transparent.
While your vegetables are cooking, cut meat into strips or bite-sized pieces and remove the shells from the shrimp. Add the meat and shrimp back into the pan with the vegetables. Cut cooked sausages into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan.
Add 2 cans of chicken broth, diced tomatoes and peas. Bring liquid to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Add rice and lightly stir to distribute it around the pan evenly. If you’re using unseasoned rice, add a few strands of saffron or a prepared seasoning that contains saffron. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add almonds or cashews.
Place the skillet, uncovered, in the oven. Bake until the liquid has been almost evaporated and the rice is cooked. Brown rice can take about 20 minutes, while white rice may take only 10 minutes. Instant rice cooks very quickly. Check on the liquid every few minutes to see when the rice is done.
Remove your pan from the oven, and let it sit for a minute or so before serving. Serves 6 people.
This paella works well as a main dish – or serve it tapas-style with other savory Spanish fare. No matter how your dish it out, it’s a great way to get more vegetables out of the garden and into your diet – and that’s something to celebrate. Olé!
