Spicy Vegetarian Paella Recipe
PIN IT!This thing called life, it’s nothing if not completely crazy and unpredictable. In the past 3 days, I’ve found out two people I knew way back when (2006, oh the stories I’ll tell you) passed away. Although it had been some time since we talked, it still rattles me to my core. When you lose people who are young, vibrant and full of life, well, you can’t help but question your own life and truly see your own mortality. So friends, do me a favor. Just seize the day and hug the people you love. Okay? Now, let’s chat about something I made for you today, a little something I like to call spicy vegetarian paella.
This is another first for me. And with the incredible smells wafting through my kitchen this morning, it’s certainly not going to be the last. Whenever I hear the word paella, I can’t help but laugh and think of George Constanza’s mother on Seinfeld. “What are we going to do with all this paella, GEOORGGE?” hahaha. It’s really the little things in life.
This stuff is really as spicy as it looks, too. The soyrizo (aka, vegetarian chorizo) is spicy as heck on its own, then you add in crushed red pepper and chili powder and well…then you’re just kinda stupid. But not stupid in your mouth will burn off and you’ll need an icepack to the tongue, stupid in you might sweat a little while you eat it. The spice is perfectly offset by the rice and quinoa mixture I decided to throw in.
I’ll be honest, the soyrizo freaked me out a bit. It was jiggly and squishy like tofu but smelled like spicy sausage. Which I totally get is the point. You can very visibly tell it’s not real chorizo, but it tastes just like it. If you love chorizo because you love the hearty texture of sausage (which she does, ha!), you’re not going to love this. However, if you just love the flavor of the sausage and couldn’t care less about texture, you’ll love it.
I actually just ate some of this for breakfast since I made it at 7:30 am. At least it’s not hot soup, I’m making some progress.
Spicy vegetarian paella
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Serves about 6.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: About 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces of soyrizo
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1/2 large bell pepper
- 3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Liberal dashes of salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- Cilantro for garnish
Directions:
- Heat oil in a large pan (or wok) over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and pepper, cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Crumble in soyrizo and heat about 2 minutes.
- Add in broth, quinoa, rice, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and chili powder. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir it up a bit then cover. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until rice and quinoa is soft, stirring every 3 – 5 minutes.
- Serve warm with cilantro and a dash of salt and pepper.
Nutritional information per serving:
Calories: 238.5
Fat: 7.3 grams
Carbohydrates: 34 grams
Fiber: 6.5 grams
Protein: 10.5 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 6
Claire
Tags:healthy recipe, paella recipe, quinoa recipe, spicy recipe, vegetarian recipe
Good food, good people, and good memories keep us all centered!