A Simple Healthy Dinner: Vegetable Paella
While most of the Holidays have passed, many of the guests still linger. You may have reached that point where entertaining has become a little draining and the question of “what can I feed these people” arises. What does one cook when chocolate, carbs, meat, wine, and more wine have been on the menu for the past couple of days? Vegetable Paella.
I’ll admit I do not feel my healthiest right now. I have been indulging in sweets, keeping my workouts low intensity, and inhaling all bread and wine in sight. This has to end now and if you can relate to this I encourage you to join me (or you can skip this and just read my really yummy paella recipe).
Diet and exercise are key to ending an unhealthy cycle. Not original at all, but I’ll tell you an easy way to achieve it. You only have 3 days left until the new year. In those 3 days vow to spend at least 1 hour a day outside walking, running, snowboarding, anything. Mirror this with your diet. I challenge you to eat no bread or dairy for these final 3 days – this is hard, I know, but try it. End this year with a challenge. For food inspo of what to make that fits this challenge, check out the other recipes on my blog or try this paella! 
Vegetable Paella
serves: 6
- 1 tsp saffron
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 3 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 orange bell pepper thinly sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cups green beans, chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms
- 1/2 cup peas
- 1 cup butternut squash
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1/2 cup total of chopped rosemary, sage, and oregano plus extra for garnish
- lemon wedges, to serve
Method
- Cook brown rice as directed in a pot of boiling water, add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let sit when done.
- In a large saucepan, add 1 tsp of the olive oil then add all of the vegetables starting with the yellow onion through the butternut squash. Stir occasionally adding in salt and pepper, cook on covered for about 15 minutes on medium-low heat.
- Add the rest of the olive oil to the saucepan along with the tomato paste, rosemary, sage, and oregano. Stir frequently until vegetables are evenly coated then add the brown rice. Continue to stir, cook on covered for another 15 minutes adding in salt and pepper as needed.
- Pour paella mixture into a large serving dish. Garnish with lemon wedges and more oregano. Ready to serve!
