I was inspired to try modifying a paella dish recently.  I was flipping through my Better Homes and Gardens recipe e-mail and came across their Pork and Butternut Squash Paella.  I thought, I love pork and butternut squash and both are healthy to begin with.  But I also wanted to challenge myself to use something I don’t normally use, which is white rice.  I am using a white risotto rice instead of a Spanish style paella rice because that’s what I’m trying to use up.  If you want to check out paella rice here’s the Wikipedia page that lists them.  So now on to our challenge.  I am not changing the butternut squash, pork tenderloin or risotto rice.  I also don’t have a paella pan.  I’m using a Dutch oven (which after reading many people in Spain use).  With the initial look at this recipe, the stats are ok, but because of the rice the carbohydrates and calories are sky-high.  Here are the original stats:

• 616 Calories
• 13g Fat
• 41mg Cholesterol
• 290mg Sodium
• 299mg Potassium
• 96g Carbohydrate
• 29g Protien
• 172% Vitamin A
• 33% Vitamin C

Here’s what I’m changing:

• I increased the servings to 15
• I reduced the olive oil to 1 tablespoon
• I added 7 red bell peppers for vitamin C
• I added one can of low sugar diced mango for vitamin C
• I increased the pork to 2 lbs
• I increased the butternut squash to 2 lbs
• I added 3/4 cup of brown lentils to increase the protein without the high calories
• I deleted the tomatoes

Here’s updated recipe:

Pork and Butternut Squash Paella

• 2 pounds butternut squash cut into 1 inch cubes
• Cooking spray
• 3/4 cup brown lentils
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1.5 inch chunks
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 7 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 2 15 ounce cans of low sodium chickpeas
• 1 can reduced sugar diced mangos