'How this one traditional Spanish dish has changed my mind about vegetarian food' - Danny Mei Lan Malin

Part of travelling for me is tasting all the authentic street food from empanadas to huge sandwiches filled with cheese, cured meats and pickles

I returned to Alicante where my nan used to live and to visit my aunt Rosa with my family.

We stayed in Benidorm which people don’t often associate with fine food and drink but there are some real hidden gems here.

We always stay in Finestrat which is on the other side of Benidorm to the new town with the old town cushioned in the middle. My favourite place to eat here is Tapas Alley in the old town where you can find some incredible food on offer.

I’m not a big lover of seafood which is a shame when you’re by the coast but I do love the tuna in Spain with a huge fresh salad of beef tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and olives. This served with some patatas bravas, crusty bread and aioli is the ideal dinner.

What blew me away on this trip however was the paella.

Paella which literally means pan, is a dish traditionally made up of rice, meat, green beans and other locally sourced vegetables.

I’d only ever devoured it with meat and seafood but this time I tried a meat paella as well as a vegetable paella.

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While I know people love seafood and chorizo in paella this isn’t the traditional way which was originally chicken or rabbit cooked over a fire in a large flat plan with rice, beans and vegetables.

Trying both a meat paella and my wife’s vegetarian paella I was shocked that I enjoyed the vegetable paella more because it wasn’t too salty with the meat overpowering the dish. With the vegetarian paella I could appreciate the subtle flavour of the saffron and olive oil more.

Not to mention my favourite bit of the paella which is the crispy bit at the bottom called the “socarrat.”

According to my Aunt Rosa you have to cook the paella fast but it’s all about having a thin layer of paella in the pan.

Whilst I was there as well as tapas alley, I enjoyed a steak house during our trip and there I found myself trying my wife’s empanadas which contained spinach and feta as well as a cheese fondue which was delicious.

I’m often surprised nowadays just how flavoursome vegetarian food is.

I’m not a fan of meat substitutes but I do think that vegetarian food cooked well with fresh seasonal vegetables and quality produce can taste a lot better than some meat dishes.

I’ve now bought myself a paella pan and seasoning so the wife and I can enjoy vegetarian paella together at home.