To veggo or not to veggo

Once i used to be a vegetarian and it is a great way to be...but i find that occasionally i still enjoy my meat...I wish i could go full veggo but i do not have the will of commitment to do it anymore. Most portion of my food is still greens but with a man by my side i am eating more meat then before i got into a relationship. I am lucky that he is happy to have just vegetables on most days. T's background being half Spanish, i have become accustomed to some Spanish dishes (mostly his mother's cookings). However i have never really cooked anything Spanish and the other day this vegetarian paella dish caught my eye. Therefore i used it as my first dish to present on here. I did not feel sinful after eating it which is always nice.

Preparing for the dish was exciting because i got to use spices together that i have never used before. And i do love my food to be colorful as i feel im getting so much more out of what mother nature has provided us with.

The ingredients lined up and ready to go

Boiling in one big pot means lesser washing time ;)

End verdict- Did not look like how it did in the recipe but tasted healthy although slightly rich still for my taste.

Sushi x

Vegetarian Paella (recipe taken from Australian Women's Weekly magazine)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

pinch cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons sea salt flakes

4 bay leaves

2 cups (400g) basmati rice

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, chopped (if you are anything like me, i love my garlic so i added about 8 cloves)

1.125liters (4.5 cups) water

1/2 medium (150g) eggplant, diced

1 medium (120g) zucchini, halved and sliced

1 medium (150g) brown onion, chopped

1 medium (200g) red capsicum, sliced into strips

1/2 medium (100g) yellow capsicum, sliced into strips

150g small cherry tomatoes

3/4 cup (90g) green or black olives (i left this out sadly as T' hates olives...i should just use it next time and make him deal with it as i love olives in dishes)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley (i substituted with fresh coriander because T' does not like parsley)

- Heat olive oil in large frying pan, add combined spices, salt and bay leaves, cook, stirring for one min or until fragrant.

- Over high heat, add the rice, tomato paste and garlic. Stir to coat in spice mixture.

- Add the water, all the vegetables and olives to the spiced rice mixture, bring to the boil, stirring well to combine. Place lid on pan, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 10-12 min or until the rice is just tender and water is absorbed.

- Season the paella with freshly ground pepper and sprinkled with parsley.

- Serves 4-6 and suitable to freeze.