Vegetarian Paella

Submitted by Studentchef

"IGA, the supermarket chain in Montreal hands out recipes to its shoppers in order to sell its inline products. I sometimes buy those products, depending on my budget, but I mostly don't, because I like using my favourite brands."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into large chunks
• 3 tablespoons authentico olive oil (or your favourite kind)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 225 g arborio rice
• 2 1⁄2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (19 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup mushroom, sliced
• 1 cup green beans, cut into segments
• 1 (19 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

directions

1. Pour 3 tablespoons water over saffron in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Sprinkle salt over the eggplant chunks and let stand in a colander for 30 minutes. Rinse and drain.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion, garlic, peppers and eggplant for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika and toss.
4. Add the rice, then incorporate the vegetable stock, tomatoes, saffron and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered, stirring frequently.
6. Fold in the mushrooms, green beans and chickpeas.
7. Cook for another 15 minutes and serve immediately.

Reviews

[vinita]

This paella tastes great! The only thing I would do differently next time is put the green beans in a bit earlier because mine were a bit hard and didn't get cooked properly. Couldn't really tell if the saffron made a difference in the taste because all the other tastes were so strong. If I didn't have any in the house I certainly would not buy any just for this recipe. We will be making this one again :)

 

[brgo8712]

It is my understanding from tv chefs that Saffron does not provide taste; it only provides color. I would use the saffron rice.

 

[Mrs Majors]

I was so excited to be shopping for this recipe because I love paella and I was so happy to find a vegetarian version! But my excitement came to a screeching halt at the spice aisle! I couldn't justify $20 for a spice for which I only needed 1/16 teaspoon... (And you don't get a jar full - you get an envelope of saffron which is wedged into the jar and frankly, the envelope appeared pretty empty. What is this stuff - gold dust?). Sadly, I deduced that this would most likely be the KEY ingredient in this recipe. I perked up at the rice aisle where I found yellow saffron rice and I used that instead of the other rice. I have no idea what 1/16 tsp of saffron would have done but dinner turned out delicious afterall! (And now I'm wondering what it would take to grow and resale saffron...?) Thanks for posting this recipe!

 

[jenwald]

After searching Pinterest, google and many recipe sites, I finally settled on this veggie paella recipe (for my Spanish-themed NYE get together this week. So glad to have tried this. Like other reviewers, I added in a bit more spices - extra garlic, turmeric and cumin. I kept the saffron in and used aborio rice. Delicious, creamy yumminess. I uses all of the vegetables called for and found the dish to be well balanced and visually beautiful. Thank you :)

 

[Melodina]

Couldn't find saffron so substituted it with turmeric, which gave the right colour to the paella. That said, the recipe did come out bland - this could have been because of the vegetable stock and lack of saffron. I added more stock, but still. I had a look on here and followed the advice of other reviewers: added rosemary, cumin, zaatar, onion powder and a teeny tiny bit of chili powder. It seems better now. Hope the guests enjoy it - thank you for this vegetarian version of this classic!