Spanish Spices: February’s Raw Spice Bar

February has brought some unseasonably warm weather, and along with it, some appropriately accommodating Spanish spices in my Raw Spice Bar kit: Red Wine Sea Salt, Paella Spices, and Pimento Bloody Mary. All three of these blends impart pungent flavors, so just a small amount does wonders for a dish.

I’ve never made paella on my own; this is a dish my dad and I would make together, for special occasions, because it requires such art and finesse to get it just right. I would never dare attempt paella on my own, especially without the ever-so-important paella pan, but I took the plunge. I made paella in my Le Creuset Dutch oven. And, I confess, it paled in comparison to my dad’s paella. Granted, my paella was vegan, and my dad always makes his with fresh seafood and chicken; there’s just that unparalleled sweet-brininess from the seafood that anything vegan cannot replicate. And chicken is chicken – hearty and full of flavor when seasoned properly, as my dad always does. While my vegan paella would bring shame to a native Spaniard, and maybe even be questionable to adorn the name “paella,” it was nevertheless a delicious and flavorful rice dish. Instead of the traditional bomba rice, I used short-grain brown rice, and seasoned it with the Raw Spice Bar Paella Spices – a blend of smoked paprika, dried California chilies, black pepper, dried garlic, dried onion, dried roasted bell pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, and saffron. I added a bit more smoked paprika and salt, and tossed in a generous gardening of peas, artichoke hearts, fire-roasted tomatoes, and roasted red peppers. I served my Valencia-inspired rice dish with grilled, white-wine marinated chicken breasts on the side for me and hubby to have that meat option.

Now for the Raw Spice Bar Red Wine Sea Salt, I was really stumped on how to use this spice blend. The recipe suggestions were mostly sweet renditions, but I wanted to use the blend in something savory. I decided to pickle shallots with it. So simple, yet so delicious! I sliced a shallot into very thin rings and placed them in a bowl of red wine vinegar. I added in the red wine sea salt and tossed the shallots around a bit with a fork. I let them sit at room temperature for about an hour, and they were already gently broken down and palatable; of course the longer you marinate them, the more intensely they pickle. These are great as a garnish on a charcuterie platter, garnish on any meat or vegetable dish, inside a grilled cheese sandwich, you name it. I cannot stomach to eat a raw onion on its own; but, its pickled friend is a much tastier and daintier, if you will, version of the allium (just another fancier way to classify an onion). I served my red-wine-sea-salt pickled shallots over top a butternut squash quinoa pilaf. The sharp vinegar was a perfect balance to the sweet squash, and the quinoa absorbed the oniony juices as it would a vinaigrette. I had three bowls of the stuff, so yeah, it was pretty darn good. And the best thing yet, the shallots keep well in the fridge in their pickling juices, so you can use them in multiple dishes!

Finally, moving on to the Pimento Bloody Mary Spices blend. While I love all things tomato – remember Italian runs through my blood – I’m not really not a fan of a bloody Mary. It’s unsettling drinking something savory and tangy and spicy and cold all at the same time, when I want it to be hot and on a spoon…..with or without alcohol, I just can’t do it (No offense to all you bloody Mary drinkers out there, maybe one day I’ll get there). I decided to give the suggested tomato soup recipe that came with the kit a try, with a few personal tweaks, of course. I really wanted to like the soup; I tried so hard to get myself to like it, with each bite hoping I would taste something different, but I just couldn’t. Capturing all the spice components of a traditional bloody Mary drink, this spice blend had pimenton (paprika), cayenne, black pepper, celery salt, dried Worcestershire, and celery seed. The Worcestershire and cayenne were both way too overpowering so the soup turned out to be overly pungent and spicy. I garnished the soup with white beans for some protein and substance, also hoping to mellow out the bloody Mary flavor. I think this spice mix would have served its purpose best in none other than an actual bloody Mary drink.

Here are my recipes using the Spanish spices from this month’s Raw Spice Bar kit, and I even included in the tomato soup in case you want to try it for yourself!

Roasted Red Pepper Paella

3 cups brown rice, dry
4 cups vegetable stock
1 medium onion, diced
2 red bell peppers
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups frozen peas, defrosted
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. salt, more to taste as needed
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 packet of Raw Spice Bar Paella Spices
1 cup dry sherry wine

Optional chicken on the side:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 lemon, zest and juice
½ cup white wine
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 F. On a roasting pan, place the red peppers whole, and roast in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until the skin begins to char and get blistered. Remove the peppers from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, peel off the skin, and remove the seeds and stem. Dice into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Drop the oven temperature to 350 F.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven pot. Add the onions, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Allow the vegetables to caramelize. Once the onions have slightly browned, pour in the sherry and allow the liquid to reduce. Add in the brown rice and stir. Sprinkle in the Raw Spice Bar Paella Spices packet, smoked paprika, oregano, and more salt. Allow the rice to toast for about one minute, then add in the diced roasted bell peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, chickpeas, artichoke hearts, and peas. Stir to combine all the ingredients. Then add in the vegetable stock and stir. Place the lid on the pot and place in the 350 F-degree oven. Allow the rice to cook for about 1-1 ½ hours, making sure the rice has absorbed all the liquid and the rice is fully cooked.

For the chicken:
Combine all of the ingredients together and allow the chicken to marinate for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Grill the chicken about 2-3 minutes per side and serve sliced over top of rice.

Red Wine Sea Salt Pickled Shallots

1 large shallot, thinly sliced into rings
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 packet Raw Spice Bar Red Wine Sea Salt
More salt to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and allow to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Bloody Mary Tomato Soup

2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
3 ½ pounds tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 packet of Raw Spice Bar Pimenton Bloody Mary spice mix
Sliced scallions, optional for garnish
White beans, optional for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and allow to slightly caramelize. Add in the tomatoes, thyme, Raw Spice Bar Bloody Mary spice mix, salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine. Add the vegetable stock and the bay leaf and bring the soup to a simmer. Allow the soup to simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Then, with an immersion blender, puree the soup. Using a sieve, strain the soup into another smaller pot, so as to remove the pulp, leaving only a silky tomato puree. Add more salt and pepper to taste as needed. Serve with a garnish of sliced scallions and white beans.