Paella Primavera

• 2 1/2 tsp. olive oil
• 3 c. broccoli florets
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced
• 3 c. low-sodium vegetable broth
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. crumbled saffron threads
• 1 c. short-grain white rice, such as Valencia
• 1 c. fresh or frozen baby peas
• 1 c. halved grape or cherry tomatoes
• 12 pitted green olives, halved
• 12 pitted black olives, halved
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add broccoli, pepper, and green onions, cook 5 minutes. Stir in broth, garlic, and saffron; bring to a boil. Sprinkle rice over ingredients, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, ten minutes.

Sprinkle peas, tomatoes, and olives over rice. Cover, and cook paella 8 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and let rest, covered, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

To serve, spoon paella into 6 bowls, and garnish each with lemon wedges and parsley.

Serves 6 (1 cup); 211 calories.

VERDICT: Blech. At least 50% of the problem is operator error, as I have never in my life correctly cooked rice, but I should have realized that vegetarian paella was problematic from the beginning. Everything was kind of mushy and bland, even with $11.86 worth of saffron in it. Toss and forget it ever happened.