Good...but it's not my favorite.

So I realized when reading my past recipes..we eat a lot of Italian and Pasta dishes. Which makes me want to branch out more. So upon my daily search for inspiration I found recipes for Spanish Tortilla and Paella and I realized I didn't have all the ingredients for either recipe. In my past, emotionally eating, spur of the moment life I would have ran out to the big chain grocery store and picked up whatever I needed. But not tonight and I am so proud of myself, I stuck with the "Spanish" theme and went with what I had. I came up with a Brown Rice, Vegan Paella. Please forgive me, all you Paella enthusiast's. I am almost %100 positive I broke some cardinal rule of Paellaism... no special pan, no delicious crusty bottom and NO MEAT! So I guess I can't really call it Paella, except for the spices. I stared this at 4:00, thinking I had plenty of time to do this and still eat by 6:00. Well after the prep work, it was 4:30 and then my oldest son came in to remind me (as he does every Tuesday and Thursday) that he has practice! CRAP! How am I going to do drop him off and add broth to the rice for the next hour? Following that thought, my youngest starts in with his tantrum which normally leads to a nap...hmmmm. So I did what any busy mom would do... called in for back up! The trusty hubby found a fellow teammates parents to pick up Alexander for practice and I put Dominic down for a nap. OK so that's all handled...now on to whats really important.
So this dish was time consuming, but anything with wine , Saffron and Smoked Paprika (my spice of the week) in it tops my list! We ate when my son came home from practice 7:30. It was very hearty. My husband (for a quick second) mistook the marinated Tofu for Chickenl. The brown rice cooked through and it wasn't mushy at all. Would have been a visually appealing dish, had I not thrown in the peas as early as I did. A bit grey... but still sweet! I cannot put a picture of this recipe on here, I have to uphold this "reputation" I have of only serving beautiful food to my family. Think, slow cooked brown rice, Peas, Artichoke hearts, Tomatoes and corn all tossed about. Not so pretty, however, I bet my friend Penny can make a stunning photo of it.

Recipe:
2 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp fresh ground Pepper
1tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp ground chipotle chili powder
Toss cubed Tofu in this mixture and allow to marinate as long as possible.
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1/2 c dry white wine
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
2 c chopped sweet onion
2 c fresh tomatoes, pureed in food processor with vegetable broth to thin it a bit
1 quart organic salt free vegetable broth
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 c Brown Rice
1 chopped roasted Red Pepper ( I used jarred)
1/2 c frozen organic peas,
1/2c frozen organic corn or fresh if you have it on hand, you can just cut the fresh corn in round and throw it in whole and rustic style.
1 c frozen artichokes, I left them whole but you can chop them if you like
1/4 c fresh chopped Parsley

Soak saffron threads in wine for approx 30, or as long as it takes you to do the prep and the next step.

Saute Onions in 1 tbsp olive oil until translucent and a bit caramelized (do not allow to burn). Add garlic and saute for one more minute. Add rice and "toast" gently, this may take almost 10 minutes. Add wine/saffron mixture. Turn down the heat if it's spattering. Scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan and stir until rice has soaked up wine. Combine the tomato puree with the broth and slowly incorporate this into the rice, one cup at a time and allow it to soak into the wine. ( yes this is the time consuming part, which is why my children were neglected from this point on). Once you have most of the broth in and it's simmering nicely, add the red peppers and the tofu. Allow to reduce and preheat the oven to 400. Add the tofu and the rest of the broth and put a the covered pot into the oven for about 30 minutes. If the rice is cooked add the remainder of the vegetables and cook for an additional 10 minutes. If the rice isn't done yet and more liquid is needed you can water 1 c at a time. Once it's done and all the broth is cooked in, remove lid and allow to rest for 10 min in oven.

Toss with freshly chopped parsley and ENJOY!

If you have a FABULOUS (authentic) Paella recipe that I should try please send it to me!