Spanish Paella

For one of my cousin's rehearsal dinner in 2011 they hired the Paella King to cater. He showed up with a large, portable wok and fired up the most delicious, colorful meal. The seasonings, rice, and variety of veggies were all too tempting for me and I took a bowl. I was able to navigate around the shrimp like landmines and ate some of the veggies but I am sure my levels went bonkers from the animal based broth. #collegedays

Since then, my mission has been to recreate this dish in a phe-friendly formulation. My favorite combo presents again: riced cauliflower and Cambrooke Foods short grain rice. I tend to do a 2:1 ratio of cauliflower to rice. If you are trying to keep the levels quite low for preconception or for children I would suggest the opposite, a 1:2 combo of cauliflower to rice. This combination helps me to drop my levels like crazy! I attempted the CBF rice on its own (held the cauliflower) and my level dropped to 1.4. (For the record, that is not normal for me. I have not seen my levels that low since I was enrolled in PegPal trials, which is a story in and of itself.) Anywho, this CBF rice works miracles and the cauliflower is essential as it reduces the rubbery texture of the low pro rice.

Even better, I was able to make a high protein and nutrient dense paella dish for Nick. He loves these type of one dish dinners and I love sneaking in a few extra veggies in his meal. (hehe) This dish was in the instant pot. It is nice to use the instant pot when preparing two meals; both low protein and high protein. That way, you can prep for both but throw one in the instant pot (worry-free) while preparing the other meal over the stove. Maybe one day I will have two instant pots... that would be the PKU dream!

I bet you can't even tell the difference between the low pro and high protein dishes!

This has to be one of my all time favorite dishes and thankfully it is low in phe as well. One of my girlfriend's daughter gobbled up two helpings of the low pro option and she is only two years old. This is a nutritious and flavorful dish that is sure to be a hit! Delicious as leftovers, too.

Low Pro Paella

1 cup CBF short grain rice

2 cups riced cauliflower (buy at the store or fresh from your food processor)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1.5 cups vegetable broth

1.5 tsp CBF chicken consomme

.5 can diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

1 small onion

.5 bell pepper (I used green for color but red is delicious also)

1 pinch saffron threads

.5 teaspoon turmeric (or more to your liking)

.5 cup spanish olives (stuffed with pimentos)

.5 can of chopped artichoke hearts

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Optional- dash of cayenne (I tend to load it up!)

Saute the onion and peppers in oil until translucent. Add garlic, CBF rice, and chicken consomme. Saute until fragrant. Add tomatoes, riced cauliflower and vegetable broth. Mix and then form a pocket of liquid in the center. Add saffron threads. The heated liquid will help to release the flavor from the saffron. Once the color turns to red in the pocket mix thru the rest of the ingredients. Add turmeric and cayenne if you please. Cover and let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Stir regularly to prevent the rice from adhering to bottom of the pan. After 15 minutes add artichokes and olives. Mix throughout dish. The rice will continue to cook at a low temperature until the desired texture is reached. Serve hot with parsley as a garnish.

Note below: the pocket formed for saffron threads. Also, I threw in a handful of frozen corn when I added the artichokes and olives. Just adds extra texture but definitialy optional as corn is slightly high in phe.