TRY THIS FOR DINNER THIS WEEK: Veggie Paella

CIMG1392, originally uploaded by http://badhuman.wordpress.com.

 

OK, if you are looking for something tastes AWESOME and is really pretty good for you, try this! Seriously, whatever you’re having for dinner tomorrow night, have this instead.

N. and I have gotten a lot of miles out of the free Whole Foods Recipes. This one in particular struck our fancy, as we’re trying to incorporate a vegetarian meal into our weekly foodgime. The thing that I (J.) found really incredible about this dish was the lack of seasoning; it just doesn’t need it. The aromatics and jasmine rice gave it truly enough flavor.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium organic yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup organic aromatic white rice such as jasmine or basmati
1/4 teaspoon saffron strands
1 (14 ounce) can of whole organic tomatoes, drained
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup frozen lima beans
2 cups organic gluten-free vegetable broth
additional water, if needed
1 cup frozen peas
lemon wedges for garnish
Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pan. Sauté the onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the rice and saffron and continue to sauté, stirring constantly for another minute. Add the whole tomatoes, and stir to break up with a large spoon. Add the green and yellow peppers along with the lima beans, stirring for another minute.

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Boil for two minutes then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Check to see if more liquid is needed (to prevent sticking). If, so add just enough (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup) water. Cover and cook another 5 minutes.

Stir in the frozen peas. Continue cooking until peas are just tender and liquid is absorbed. The rice should not be over cooked, but just slightly al-dente. (If not tender enough, you may a bit more water and continue cooking.) Serve garnished with lemon wedges.

We did one thing differently:

We used frozen edamame instead of lima beans, not only because lima beans are just about N.’s least favorite substance, but we’ve been trying to finish our edamame for about a month now. The rest of the recipe is spot on! Give it a shot, and let us know what you think.