Today’s inspiration comes Beka Meyer, of Caldwell, Idaho. Not only does this vegetarian paella sound delicious but it came with a testimonial from someone slowly shifting their diet to be more vegan—and loving it! (That’s a picture of Valencia by the way, this dish’s city of origin—do any of you have similar success stories?)

Here’s Beka’s email:

I’ve been eating vegan-ish since I read The China Study (-ish because I still have tons of chicken in the freezer that I am slowly getting through!) a few months ago and I am loving it!  I’ve lost 18 lbs so far and I’m not hungry at all, I stopped counting calories too!  Even my husband is on board with being vegan-ish and he is well known for his love of hotdogs and quesadillas!  My 4 year old is loving that we always have spinach and tomatoes, apples, and oranges on hand, but being her father’s child, still needs her hotdogs.  I found the following recipe in a book called The Vegan Handbook that I checked out from the library and it is so good!  It is a bit of work to do, but so worth it!  I made it for my in-laws (who buy their beef by the cow, not the pound) and they loved it and asked for the recipe!

Vegetarian Paellla:

1 tablespoon oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-1/2 cups white rice

3-1/2 cups water

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

½ cup chopped green olives

1 medium sweet pepper, finely chopped

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

A few threads or pinch of pure saffron

1 cup lightly fried sliced mushrooms

1 cup asparagus, chopped

½ cup toasted blanched almonds

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a frying pan, then saute onions and garlic over medium heat for 12 minutes. Add rice and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Transfer frying pan contents to a 9×13 inch pyrex dish. Stir in water, peas, olives, sweet pepper, oregano, salt, pepper, saffron, then cover. Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Combine mushrooms, asparagus and almonds, then spread evenly over top. Recover and bake for a further 25 minutes or until rice is well-cooked. Serve hot from pan.