Hello All and welcome to Spanish food month!
Here in america, we have a tendency to compare Spanish food with Mexican food. Let me tell you, that could not be farther from the truth. Spanish food is composed of rich beautiful ingredients and not much spice. We are talking more Mediterranean / salty foods. There are two different types of eating in Spain and I thought maybe that could be the best way to look at it! First, there is the sit down meals. A lot of their meals in Barcelona were seafood based ( being right on the water). However, where we sit, that is not the easiest option available so I put I twist on one of the classics; Paella. Paella is a rice based dish that usually is comprised of three proteins ranging from shrimp, chicken, rabbit, chorizo, you name it. However, our goal here is to explore, easy and healthy so I have created the Spanish Vegetable Paella
It is beautiful, healthy and will not kill your budgets.
If you are not a fan of the sit down and want something even quicker, I recomend the other type of meals in Spain called tapas. Tapas is little plates with lots of wine / drinks. The easiest ones are simple and can be comprised of what we know as a Spanish charcuterie plate (perfect date night idea)
I like this website because it gives you ideas of the different types of cheeses and meats you would find in Spain. Make sure you pair / add the following as well:
nuts, OLIVES, more olives, pickled veggies, fruit (like apples and figs),crackers or bread and dipping sauces (GOOD olive oil (extra virgin or Spanish style) , honey, pepper jelly). This might sound expensive, but you can experiment and find almost all of these anywhere from a Trader Joe's / Whole Foods to Wegmans, Walmart or Aldi's.
HAPPY COOKING / EXPERIMENTING
Make sure you post on our facebook group New Food & Flavor Year and tell us what you did and how you did it!
If you are feeling extra adventurous, here are a couple of my favorite tapas recipes that take a little bit longer and might not be the best for you, but man are they good!
Some of my favorite and most complicated
(baked or Fried Potatoes with an amazing red sauce)
(fried stuffed potato balls)
(boiled octopus with olive oil, paprika, and potatoes)