Cooking PAELLA seems to be so complicated because of the longer preparation and cooking time. But it only took me 30 minutes to cook (plus 10 minutes for preparing the ingredients) my home-made plant-based paella dish. Amazing! I already got inspired with my husband’s Adlai risotto and “bringhe” (native paella)  dishes last year. Then I became more challeneged to create my own Adlai recipe when my clients Ana, Carol and Cecille requested for one. It’s really good to alternate rice and quinoa with healthy local grains such as Adlai. Variety is key to healthy and sustainable eating. Adlai makes you full faster than rice and quinoa because of the higer calorie content. Just eat half a cup of quinoa with vegetables and viands and you’ll surely achieve a very satisfying meal.

This simple and healthy paella recipe doesn’t require the use of chicken or vegetable broth and other seasonings, just use salt, peper and turmeric powder (for the color). I hope that this dish can encourage you once again to incorporate more vegetables and healthy grains in your meals.  ENJOY!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Adlai
• 4 cups water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup red beans
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 medium red bell peper, thinly sliced
• 1 small carrot, thinly sliced
• 1/cup asparagus
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Heat olive oil then saute garlic, sliced onion, red bell pepper and tomato for 3-5 minutes.

2. Add carrots, mushrooms, red beans asparagus and uncooked adlai. Mix for another 3-5 minutes.

3. Pour 4 cups of water, turmeric powder, salt and pepper.

4. Continue mixing all the ingredients for another 15-20 minutes over medium to high heat.

5. Leave the paella over low heat for another 5-10 minutes.

This recipe serves 3-4.

* Thanks to Carol Cabangon and Cecille Wieneke for making me aware of Adlai.