Skip to main content

Vegetarian Paella with Artichoke Hearts & Olives

 Ingredient:

  • 1 can of artichoke hearts (quartered, not marinated in oil)
  • 1 can of green olives (or your favorite olives - also not marinated in oil) 
  • 1 red bell pepper 
  • 1 small or medium onion (yellow or white)
  • 1 medium zucchini 
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes or 2 medium sized tomatoes 
  • 1-2 teaspoon of paprika 
  • 1 pinch of saffron 
  • 1 cup of rice (sub with any short grained rice you have on hand - definitely no long grain!)
  • 1 pinch of salt & pepper
  • Water or vegetable broth
  • olive oil for sauteing 
  1.  Dice the onion and saute in large shallow pan (if you don't have a paella pan) until onions are translucent. Use as little olive oil as possible since you are just wanted to make them sweat out and not fry them.
  2. Add in paprika, saffron, salt, and pepper into onions and coat onions pieces with spices. 
  3. Add in diced tomatoes and diced red bell pepper. Cook down tomatoes and pepper. 
  4. Drain and add in artichoke hearts and olives. Add into cooking mixture. 
  5. Wash rice and add into pan. Also add in sliced zucchini. Mix until all rice grains are coated with sauce. 
  6. Add in water/broth to cover rice. Bring to strong simmer and cover pan with lid. Then turn heat down to low or slow simmer. Wait until you don't see any bubbles and rice looks puffy and done. 
  7. Serve and enjoy

Honestly, this is the first meal that I have found to be absolutely delicious. It isn't really a true paella but it's close enough for me to feel satiated. For me, the most enjoyable parts are the olives and artichokes. I find the artichokes "meaty" enough in terms of texture. In addition, the green olives do have a "buttery" taste to me. I think the key is to find olives/ artichokes that are not marinated and sour. For snacking, the marinated artichokes and olives are fine but they contain too much sodium, sourness, and oil. This recipe is enough for me to have about 3-4 meals which is great because I don't really want to cook every meal.

I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I have.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Plant Based Hot Pot Options:

I love to eat hot pot with my family and friends. We gather a couple times throughout the year to enjoy conversation and delicious food. Typically meat is the main focus of hot pots but I have learned that are many other enjoyable and satiating hot pot add-ins.  Soup Base: Mushroom base, Water, Kumbu broth, miso broth, vegan dashi broth I'm going to be honest, I usually just use water since I love eating my hot pot add-ins with as much sauce as possible.  Vegetarian Add-ins: Enoki mushrooms  Small king oyster mushrooms  Soft Tofu Fried Tofu Lotus Root Taro slices Glass noodles / mung bean noodles (GF) Small Bok Choy Tong Ho  Shanghai Bok Choy Shitake Mushroom Tops Dried Tofu skin Glutenous Fried Balls Rice Cakes Oden Mochi Pockets (Mochi Kinchaku) Daikon Radish  Sweet Potatoes Vegan/Vegetarian Dumplings Napa Cabbage Kongac noodles/dumplings Corn on the cob Sauces: Vegetarian bullhead bbq sauce (green top), soy sauce, peanut or almond butter, scallion, sesam...

Muesli

The muesli portion of this blog is from my first plant based diet attempt. Muesli is loosely defined, by me, as a mixture of dried add-ins with uncooked rolled oats. This dried mixture is not cooked, but soaked in a liquid such as oat milk and eaten cold.   There was a point in my first experiment when I was eating muesli 3 meals a day since it was filling, plant based, and easy. Hence the phrase "Body by Muesli." I started with a prepared mixture from Bob's Red Mill and then mixed my own. To this day my go to combination is oats, raisins, coconut shreds, sunflower seeds/ pecans, and sometimes puffed millet or rice. All of which are the versions without any added sugar. The raisins themselves lend enough sweetness to satiate my palate. I'll be honest, I am not much of a sweet tooth. I have found that if I soak a bowl of muesli in coconut milk or oat milk over night, it is also very delicious. The oats soak of the liquid and start having a soft cooked oatmeal texture. ...