Spanish Paella

After reading the Spain guide book, marking off places to see and foods to eat; Oh, also some elementary Spanish to speak to impress my family, I decided I would try a new dish every day at a different restaurant.

The first night I went to a traditional spanish restaurant right across from the hotel in Barcelona. And, decided to go for the traditional spanish dish called Paella. There are several variations of Paella and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they even had a vegetarian option.

I can assure you this is one of the most satisfying soul foods. It has rice and also some colorful vegetables and peppers. The magic of the taste apparently lies in the variety of rice that it is cooked with. So, here is a recipe with my own twist to it.

Ingredients
•Hearty rice with texture. I would suggest Arborio or parboiled rice.
•olive oil
•garlic
•yellow onion, chopped. Use yellow onion although a spicy palette is what most people think they should go for
•vegetable broth to cook the rice in
•2 cups (16 oz) rice
•tomatoes
•some colorful peppers
•artichoke hearts chopped
•lemon
salt to taste

Preparation
Heat the olive oil in a wok. Sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is tender and translucent. Simmer the broth in a separate pot. Pour the rice into the wok and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the veges and tomatoes, cook for a few more minutes. Add the simmering vegetable broth. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes until almost almost all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.
Sprinkle the artichoke hearts with a few drops of lemon juice. Serve the paella straight from the pan, with some attractive garnishes.