Sauteed mushrooms, briny capers & olives, crispy rice, and the heavenly smell of saffron, this vegan paella is an incredible one-skillet meal to try on your next camping trip.
Ingredients
3tablespoonsolive oildivided
¼poundmushroomspreferably oyster, halved if large
3clovesgarlicroughly chopped
¾cupshort or medium grain rice
2 ¼cupswater or broth
1pinchsaffron
½teaspoonsalt
1cupcherry tomatoeshalved if large
½cupmanzanilla olives
2tablespoonscapers
Instructions
Place a cast iron skillet on your stove over medium-high heat and pour a tablespoon of oil to coat the bottom of the skillet.
Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Saute until browned, about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the remaining oil and the rice and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice begins to become translucent at the ends.
Pour the water or broth into the skillet and season with salt and a pinch of saffron.
Add the capers, cherry tomatoes, and olives, then stir well to evenly distribute all the ingredients. Simmer, undisturbed, until all of the liquid is absorbed, 20-30 minutes.
Towards the end of the cooking time, you will begin to hear the rice begin crackling – this is your indicator that the socarrat is forming. Cook for a few more minutes to ensure the socarrat has developed (you can use a spoon to check to see if the rice is starting to stick to the bottom in a small portion of the pan).
Remove from the heat and use a sturdy spatula to scrape the socarrat off the bottom of the pan and incorporate it into the dish. Serve immediately.