Summer's end

As summer comes to a close, and our little garden turns into a thick jungle of overgrown flowers and withered curling pea vines, I have tried to think of recipes that include what we have successfully harvested: Squash, peppers, onions, lettuce, a few peas and carrots, basil, and tomatoes. Earlier in the summer I think we had "basil tomato chicken" at least once a week! :) Lucky for me, while browsing through the NYTimes (which is a frequent activity per my job) I saw a little webcast blurb about making Paella - a Spanish dish that Joseph and I had on one of our first dates...the trick to the Paella we had was that is was Paella negro, and yes, it was literally BLACK due to the squid ink it was cooked with! We ended up with black tongues, black teeth, and Joseph somehow had it all over his lips...Needless to say, it was a memorable date! This instead, is a recipe for tomato Paella, and a tribute to summer's end.

The Ingredients: Olive oil, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste/sauce, paprika, saffron, salt, rice and shrimp.
Preparation: Mince 4 cloves garlic, dice 1-2 onions (depends on size), slice tomatoes into wedges, preheat oven to 350, begin warming a pot of water you will later add to the rice.


Start with a little olive oil in a warm pan. Cook the diced onions until transparent. Add the garlic, paprika and saffron (1 Tbsp and 1/2 tsp respectively), and a large pinch of salt. Mix until nicely colored.

Stir in a generous dollop of tomato paste or sauce. Add the rice to the mixture (amount depends on servings you want, I used 2c) and mix well, letting the rice roast in the spices.

Add the water (in proportion to the rice) and let boil. Top with tomato wedges and pre-cooked shrimp (can be any size, I like the smaller salad shrimp).


Transfer to oven and bake covered for 15 min (or until water is absorbed). *make sure that your ovenware does not have a plastic or wooden handle!