Spanish Veggie Paella (Easy, Low Cost, One Pot Dinner)

Serves 4    Hands-on time: 5-10 minutes    Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
pinch of saffron infused in a little hot water*
1 red pepper, chopped
handful green beans, trimmed and halved
handful baby corns, whole or halved
1 large red tomato, deseeded and chopped
300g / 10½ oz / 1 1/3 cups Spanish Paella rice
1 litre / 34 fl oz / 4 cups vegetable stock
½ cup unsalted cashew nuts
12-16 black pitted olives
sea salt, to taste
¼ cup flaked almonds, lightly toasted
sprinkling of green nori flakes (or use dried parsley)
pinch of cayenne pepper (for adults only)

* Saffron is the spice that gives Paella its distinctive yellow colour and creamy, nutty flavour. It is very expensive though. For a budget-friendly alternative, use ground turmeric (½ – 1 tsp)

Method

1. Gently heat the oil in a large heavy bottom frying pan (skillet) or paella pan. Sauté the onion until it starts to soften. Add the garlic, spices and rice. Thoroughly stir so that rice is coated in the oil. Add the beans, baby corn, tomato and stock. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and gently simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered.
2. Towards the end of the cooking time, stir in the cashew nuts and check the seasoning. Add sea salt, to taste. If the pan starts to dry out, add a little more stock or water. When the rice is ready, remove the pan from the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the almonds, olives and nori flakes (or dried parsley) on top and serve on warm plates. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to the adults’ dishes, if desired.
4. This paella is delicious served on its own, however Lil’ L suggested that children may prefer it served with segments of toasted tortilla (like he does ) When the paella is nearly ready, simply place the tortillas under the grill and lightly brown on both sides.  This makes them nice and crunchy!

N.B. For a super child-friendly paella, use frozen peas and sweet corn instead of green beans and baby corn. Simply add them to the pan 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.