Description
Our Vegan Paella is truly a colorful creation, one that will really stand out at your next dinner. This Paella dish boasts the deep flavor of saffron alongside delicious veggies. A perfect Whole Food Plant Based dish to share with family and friends.
This recipe was inspired and adapted from Earth Powered Family.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium orange bell pepper, diced
- Bell pepper strips for decoration (optional)
- 3 medium tomatoes, seeded & diced
- 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 large pinch saffron
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/- more to taste)
- 2 cups dry brown rice *
- 1 – 15 oz. can great white northern beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 cup Pacific organic vegetable broth*
- 3 cups water, boiling (separated)
Instructions
- Prep all vegetables ahead of time, set aside.
- Boil 2 cups of water add the saffron and allow the saffron to steep in the water, set aside.
- In a large ceramic-lined skillet, add the diced onions and sauté until they begin to soften, approx. 3 minutes.
- Add the diced bell peppers and minced garlic to the skillet. Sauté a few minutes. If needed to prevent sticking, add 1- 2 Tablespoons of vegetable broth or water.
- Stir in the seeded & diced tomatoes, parsley and smoked paprika, and sea salt into the skillet. Mix well and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the rice to the skillet. Stir well, and cook for 2 minutes to allow the rice to absorb the juices of the vegetables.
- Add the beans to the skillet and stir them into the mixture.
- Add 1 cup of vegetable broth and the 2 cups of boiling water (including the saffron) over the rice. Stir well to incorporate. Bring the rice mixture to a boil and then turn down to simmer. Cover and simmer undisturbed for 30*
- After 30* minutes, test the rice. If the rice is still tough on the top layer, gently add 1 cup of boiling water over the mixture, do not disturb the rice. At this time, add the decorative strips of bell peppers (optional), then cover the skillet once again, and continue to simmer for another 15-20 minutes. *
- The liquid in the skillet should be fully absorbed into the rice mixture.
- Test a little bit of rice near the edge of the skillet for tenderness. Once the rice is completely tender, turn up the heat to a medium-high for one minute. This creates a nice crust on the bottom where the rice touches the pan.
- Turn off the heat, remove from the stove, and allow to sit for 10 minutes undisturbed before serving.
Notes
*Rice: Finding an excellent rice is very important for this recipe. Whole-Food-Plant-Based cooking does not allow for oil of any kind. Traditionally, Paella uses oil to coat the individual rice kernels allowing the rice to keep its shape and individual kernels. We have tested many types of rice as well as brands. Della Light Brown Basmati rice works perfectly with this recipe.
*Rice Cooking Time: Rice comes in many types and quality brands. Both play into how long it takes for the rice to cook, so the timing of how long to cook the rice may vary. If unsure, keep testing the tenderness of the rice after the initial 30 minutes, and continue testing every 10 minutes thereafter until the rice reaches the desired tenderness.
*Vegetable Broth: We used Pacific Organic Vegetable Broth because it does not have MSG, and has no highly processed ingredients; however, Pacific has a very strong flavor so our water to broth ratio is heavy on the water and low on the vegetable broth. If you are using a vegetable broth other than Pacific, please adjust the water to broth ratio accordingly.