Happy Meatless Monday!  Another week another vegetarian recipe.  As you may or may not know, we support the Meatless Monday campaign – a non-profit initiative in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  It’s part of an eco-friendly worldwide movement to reduce consumption of animal products in favour of more plant-based meals to fight global warming and improve our personal health.  This week we bring a popular dish made vegetarian for you to try.

This is a very flexible recipe. You can leave out pretty much anything except the rice and saffron.  You could even leave out the saffron, but the flavour would be lacking and you can add just about anything – tofu, tempeh, or artichoke hearts, just to give you a few ideas.  This great recipe comes courtesy of veggietable.com.

Paella Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced or diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp crushed saffron
• 2 cups brown rice, uncooked and rinsed
• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 cup peas
• 1 cup corn (frozen or fresh)

Directions:

Sauté 1 garlic clove in 1 tbsp oil for about 1 minute. Add bell pepper and cook for two minutes. Transfer to bowl and set aside.  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.  Sauté remaining garlic, onion and carrot for 2 minutes and then add spices and stir well. Mix in the rice and then pour in water. Stir well, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is cooked.  Remove from heat, place the cooked bell pepper, tomatoes, peas, and corn on top of the rice. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

This is a fast, healthy and satisfying meal good for lunch or dinner.  Don’t forget – to join the movement, sign up online by going to your local Meatless Monday site or you can go to meatlessmonday.com to learn more.   If this Monday passed you by, next week is another chance to go meatless – it’s only one day for an eco-friendly cause.  Join us.  Bon (vegetarian) Appetit!