Plant-Based Paella (Vegetarian + Vegan Friendly)

A timeless dish you can crave week after week. Cheap, quick, and hearty. Mix and match veggies for your ultimate flavor experience.

My first taste of paella came at the tender age of 9. It was a favorite recipe around my house (cooked by my mother who, to my knowledge, has no cultural ties to Spain. She just freaking loves paella). I, however, did not love paella at the time because I had not acquired a taste for seafood. Although in my adulthood I eventually appreciated “meats of the sea,” fate would have it that I am now a (mostly) vegetarian. So paella is reborn in a new light! Let us savor all its robust flavors and tasty veggies. From my mother’s kitchen to mine to yours (but let’s be real: from Spain to maybe some random printed cookbook in the 80’s to my mom’s kitchen to mine to yours LOL). Olé!

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INGREDIENTS

• Olive oil

• 1 1/2 cups short grain rice (don’t use brown rice fam, it just doesn’t work for this one!)

• 2 carrots, quartered into small pieces

• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

• 1 bunch of spring onions

• 1 package of tofu (I prefer to use extra firm, drained but no need to press out extra water)

• 3 teaspoons smoked paprika (honestly, I use 4-5 for a burst of flavor)

• 1/2-1 teaspoons of saffron threads, crushed

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 5 cups organic vegetable stock (save a little more on the side for cooking)

• 1 jar pitted kalamata olives

• 2 small lemons, sliced in rounds

• 1 small green zucchini, 1 small yellow squash (quartered into small pieces)

• 1/2 bunch of asparagus, chopped into thirds

• 1/2 cup of diced red bell pepper

• 1/2 cup of peas

• 1/2 cup of radishes, quartered into small pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Add a generous amount of olive oil to a large, deep skillet (see the pan I use in the photos for reference) and turn heat up to medium. Cook the carrots and green onions for about 5-6 minutes, or until the carrots begin to soften.

3. Add in chopped garlic and stir. Cook for 1-2 more minutes, careful to not let the garlic or onions burn.

4. Pour in the short grain rice and stir for about 3 minutes. If the rice is getting too toasty, I would add a small dash of olive oil more to the pan and continue to stir.

5. Sprinkle in the paprika, crushed saffron threads & salt (reminder: I like to use A LOT. If you want to season more at the end, pair down the 4-5 teaspoons to 3 for the paprika).

6. Follow up with adding in crumbled tofu (the consistency should resemble a finely scrambled egg or chunks slightly larger than feta cheese crumbles). STIR! Be mindful of the temperature you are cooking at and turn down if the tofu is sticking to the pan or anything is cooking to quickly.

7. Now is the time to add in a large portion of the vegetables. Carefully stir in zucchini, bell pepper, radish, peas, and asparagus.

8. Pour 5 cups of stock over the top (leaving about 1 more cup on the side if needed). Bring the whole thing to a moderate simmer and no more stirring. Let it cook for 16-18 minutes (keep an eye on it towards the end of the cook time and add in a little more stock if the top is looking too dry).

9. Once the paella is finished cooking on the stove, place the entire pan into the oven and cook for another 10 minutes.

10. Remove the hot pan from the oven and place somewhere to rest for a few minutes. Before serving, garnish with kalamata olives and sliced lemons. (I like to even drizzle some of the olive juice delicately over the top of the whole paella to give it one last little seasoning).

11. Enjoy!