SOUTHWEST VEGGIE PAELLA
This smoky, spicy dish puts a Texas twist on a traditional Spanish classic.
I’ll be the first to admit I love everything Spanish: the languages, the cultures, the people, the wine, and especially the food. There’s nothing better than a healthy plate of cabrito al horno on a rainy Cantabrian afternoon or a tinto de verano while sheltering from the blazing Andalusian sun. However, probably the most quintessential, identifiably Spanish dish is paella.
Originally from the region of Valencia, traditional paella is made of a short grain rice (bomba is typical, but arborio works as well) in an olive oil base with rabbit, chicken, and other optional meats and veggies such as peas and tomatoes mixed in. The flavor comes from the hearty broth in which the rice is cooked and the saffron that’s added to give it both its aromatic taste and trademark yellow color.
Since I like my food to bite me back and my spouse will flat out refuse to eat paella if I put chunks of meat in it, I’ve made a few alterations to the traditional recipe. My paella cannot be classified as vegan or even vegetarian because I cook my rice with chicken broth, but if you want to make it vegan by cooking it in a dark vegetable broth, I’ve tried it that way, and it works just fine. To me, the rice doesn’t have the same hearty taste with the veggie broth as it does with the chicken broth, but if you’re wanting to cut some cholesterol or keep it vegetarian, the broth is the only animal product in this recipe.
There are a couple of tricks to keep in mind. First, you want to make sure your rice doesn’t have any wetness left on it. It should absorb all the water and then simmer uncovered until there’s no water left. Paella isn’t exactly like its Italian counterpart: risotto. Risotto is supposed to be creamy and wet, but paella should be dry with a crunchy crust on the bottom. Second, traditionally, you need a paella pan, but I’ve gotten away with cooking this modified version in a large skillet. If you don’t want to make a purchase just for this one recipe, a wide, shallow skillet works just fine. Stainless steel is best. The point is to have as much of the rice touching the bottom of the pan as possible so you get that crunchy paella crust — called the socarrat — that forms on the bottom of the rice palate. You can create this crust by avoiding over-stirring your paella during the absorption process and then turning up the heat in your pan the last few minutes to get the bottom of the rice crispy.
A note about saffron: saffron has a sweetly aromatic flavor and a pungent smell. Normally in paella for two, you would use ten or fewer threads to get both the flavor and the color. Since it is a strong spice, it does not take a lot to get the taste. However, the smoke and the heat of the nontraditional spices can easily overpower the saffron flavor, so you’ll need to use more threads than the normal “pinch” or 3–5 threads per person.
This recipe serves two to three people, depending on how much each person eats. When I make it for my spouse and myself, one of us usually gets a lunch portion for the next day.
Ingredients
o 1 cup cherry tomatoes
o 1 small-medium red onion, sliced
o 1 small-medium bell pepper, sliced
o 1 cup white mushrooms, sliced
o 3–4 cloves minced garlic
o 1–3 fresh sliced jalapeños, depending on your preference
o 1 cup bomba, arborio, or other short grain rice
o 2 cups chicken broth
o 3 tbs cooking sherry (optional)
o 7–8 tbsp olive oil
o 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
o 1 tsp salt
o 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
o 1 tbsp paprika
o 1 tsp smoked paprika
o ½–1 tsp crushed red pepper, depending on your preference
o 15–20 threads of saffron
Instructions
1. Peel the onion. Wash all your other veggies under running water.
2. Cut your mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion into bite-sized pieces (around two inches long by an inch wide for the onion and pepper and around a quarter-inch thick for the mushrooms). Slice the jalapeños thick enough that they won’t fall apart during cooking. Don’t do anything to the cherry tomatoes.
3. In your paella pan or shallow skillet, heat the olive oil over medium to medium high. Get the oil hot and rippling, but do not let it smoke. Keep in mind, you may have to add more oil throughout the cooking process. You should not allow the bottom of your pan to go completely bare.
4. Once your oil is heated, add your garlic and stir for around one minute until the juices are released into the oil.
5. Add the onion and bell pepper, stirring occasionally until they begin to tenderize.
6. Once the veggies in your pan begin to soften, add the jalapeño and stir again until the heat is spread around to the other veggies. This should take around 1–2 additional minutes.
7. Now it’s time to add the mushrooms. Stir these for 2–3 minutes until they soften, but don’t let them start shrinking down.
8. Add the tomatoes and stir until the peel starts to shrivel. This won’t take long.
9. While your veggies are cooking, measure out two cups of chicken broth. I use the broth out of a 14.5oz can, so I supplement that with 1.5oz of cooking sherry to deepen the flavor. I also mix in a tablespoon of lemon juice just to add another layer of complexity. Both of these ingredients are my personal preference, so if you want to use two cups of straight chicken broth, that is perfectly fine. Just make sure to add enough water to it if you’re using a can that isn’t quite the full 16oz. As I said above, two cups of vegetable broth also works, but keep in mind it will alter the flavor of the end product.
10. Once your veggies are mixed and tenderized, it’s time to add the paprika, smoked paprika, red pepper, black pepper, and salt. Make sure to sprinkle these spices over the veggies. Don’t let the powder hit the bottom of the pan. Stir the veggies and the spices until they’re thoroughly coated.
11. Next, add the rice. Mix it into the veggies very well and fry until it becomes transparent. The grains will go from solid white to clear with a small white dot called the heart in the center of each one. You want to see the heart before you pour in the broth. It should become visible within 1–2 minutes of frying.
12. Once you see the heart, turn the heat all the way up to high and pour in the broth. Add the saffron threads and mix thoroughly. This will be the last time you stir your paella. Let the entire pan boil for five minutes. Then, cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer for an additional ten minutes.
13. For the last five to ten minutes, remove the lid and let the rice continue to cook on low. You want to allow it to absorb all the water and become soft while also ensuring that any extra water coating it gets evaporated. What you want to avoid is saturated rice that stays “juicy” because there is too much extra water in the pan.
14. Once your rice is saturated and dry, ensure that as much of it is touching the bottom of the pan as possible (this should already be the case, but it is especially important for this step). Turn the heat back up to medium-high and fry the rice for 1–2 additional minutes. Do not stir. Pay close attention during this step because it is easy to burn the rice rather than making a crispy crust.
15. Remove from heat and let the whole pan rest for a couple minutes. If you keep your pan oiled throughout the entire cooking process, the rice shouldn’t stick. But if it does wind up sticking to the pan, it’s no big deal. Just take a thin spatula and use it to get up under the rice and separate it from the pan bottom.
16. Serve warm with a bottle of crianza. This dish is a complete meal on its own, but it also goes great with a chopped salad with vinegar and oil dressing and garlic bread. You can go even more southwest and serve with buttered Texas toast.
