Week 15: One Pot - Paella

While it traditionally includes seafood, there is a restaurant near us that does a veggie paella that Andrew and I love. I decided to try and recreate it for this one pot challenge. It was pretty easy and flavorful and we had leftovers for days which is always awesome. This stuff just got better as it marinated in its spices. I modeled my recipe after the Easy Paella recipe found on the Martha Stewart site but definitely took liberties with what to ingredients add (like I said, I went with lots of veggies) and also went a little heavy with spices since several of the reviews said it was bland. 

I started by sauteing chicken sausage and onion in a deep saute pan till the onions were clear and the sausage was slightly browned. 

Next, I added green pepper and the rice for just a few minutes till the rice started becoming opaque. 

I wasn't thinking when I added my rice and forgot that I was using brown rice which needs more liquid and  takes longer to cook so I had to adjust throughout the cooking process. I really love brown rice though, so the end result was great, it just took longer than I had anticipated. 

Next, I added a can of diced tomatoes...

2 Cups of chicken broth (later I added a third cup when the rice had soaked up all this and still wasn't tender - again, the brown rice issue)...

and a small can of green chilies, paprika, chili powder, tumeric, salt, and pepper then mixed it all up. I brought it to a boil, reduced it to a simmer, then covered it for about 40 minutes stirring occasionally. 

I waited till the rice was pretty much done before adding zucchini and mushrooms. I wanted them to hold their shape and texture somewhat and didn't want total mush. 

About 10 minutes later we had paella! We ate it on some awesome handmade (though not handmade by me!) chipotle tortillas.

It was filling and flavorful and I think we finally just finished those leftovers - 5 days later!

Week 5: Breakfast - Boozy Baked French Toast

The baking challenge this week was breakfast! Being one of my favorite meals, I was not at a loss for things to make, but I am usually at a loss for time to make anything extravagant in the mornings before work.  I am lucky if I manage to scarf down a bowl of cereal on most days. So, my elegant solution? B for D (breakfast for dinner!). Enter, boozy baked french toast.

The recipe called for Challah bread, but there wasn't any when I went to the store and any kind will do really . I bought a loaf of cranberry walnut bread and dried it out in the oven at a low temp - the best french toast is made with stale bread rather than fresh stuff. Friday morning, I woke up early (shocking, I know) and whipped up the egg custard. I was generous with the Bailey's and the Cointreau and suggest you do the same. :)

I poured the egg mixture over a double layer of bread, sealed it up tight, and put it in the fridge to soak all day. One my way home I grabbed the fixin's for a tasty dinner - bacon, sausage, OJ and the all important....Champagne for mimosas!

While the french toast baked, I threw the sausage and bacon in a skillet. If you have access to Hempler's Bacon, do yourself a favor and buy it.  I love this stuff - and I don't really like bacon (an unpopular opinion, I know). 

Once it was the french toast was all baked it looked like this:

All that was left to do was the cut squares of the deliciousness and plate it all up with some oranges.

A little syrup and we were in heaven.  Actually, the syrup was barely necessary.  The booze flavors made the bread nice and sweet, and if I do say so myself, the cranberry walnut bread was perfect - especially with the Cointreau.