It’s finally here — that time when the good stuff is everywhere in the markets, fresh and green and relatively affordable. Piles of green and vibrant red and even rich purples and sunshine yellows. Summer eating is simple, fresh, unadorned.
A few weeks ago I asked the Food Whore what I should have for dinner. I’ve been asking her that for years. “What should I have for dinner?” I say and she pops back with something and then I go figure out how to make that.
“Polenta,” she said a few weeks ago.
“Poly-who?”
I know what it is — a corn mush of sorts, from Northern Italy. I’d just never had it or made it before and couldn’t begin to imagine the best way to go.
“And vegetables,” she added.
I experimented, looked through a couple of Italian cook books, and then hit the market for what vegetables appealed.
I knew plain polenta would not be for me, so I used my favorite aromatics of onion and garlic, cooked it in brothe instead of water, and added a lot of fresh parmesan cheese. Unfortunately Schmoop in the snugli isn’t a fan of the running food processor so tonight I had a chunk of un-shredded cheese left. I decided to chop it and add the chunks. The result was devestatingly good.
I’ve made this dish three times now, with a variety of vegetable combinations. Tonight I sent the girls looking for herbs in the garden and they brought me back basil and parsley, which went beautifully well.
The end result was colorful, lush, delicious. I did not add a protein. The polenta is a complex carb and the veggies are, of course, veggies. You could easily add chicken if you wanted to, but I loved it without.
I apologize that there is no photo. I am working out how to reliably post pictures to this blog. Until then, I’m going to continue to write about food and hope you’ll forgive me for the lack of images to go with it.
P.S. FYI the girls won’t eat this. Ren eats peas and rice and Mare picks out the vegetables she finds least offensive but won’t go near the polenta. So I can’t plug this one as kid-friendly.
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A Pile of Vegetables and Polenta, Inspired by the Food Whore
Polenta
1 tablespoon minced onion
3 cloves chopped garlic
4 cups chicken stock
1 3/4 cup polenta grain
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1) Sauté the onion in a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan until soft. Add garlic and cook another minute or two.
2) Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add a dash of salt.
3) Pour the polenta in slowly, whisking rapidly as you go. Keep whisking until it’s all in and then lower the burner to a very low, slow simmer and leave the polenta there while you make the Pile of Vegetables.
Pile of Vegetables
Couple of cloves of garlic, chunked
At least four of the following, chopped: Squash, eggplant, mushrooms, onion, cauliflower, asparagus, fresh peas, green beans or sugar snaps, spinach, grape or cherry tomatoes, peppers
Dash of balsamic vinegar (I used white, it was delicious)
Fresh leaves of parsley, basil, oregano
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup chicken stock
1) Saute chopped onion, then garlic over low heat. I add mushrooms right away because they release liquid that helps to flavor the rest. Add the vegetables in batches with longer cooking time items first. (Eggplant, peppers early. Fresh peas or cauliflower toward the end.) Salt and pepper after each addition. Deglaze the pan (add liquid to bring up the stuff off the bottom of the pan) once or twice with vinegar.
2) Once all the veggies are in, add chicken broth, cover with lid and simmer until veggies are tender. In the last 30 seconds of cooking, add a handful of fresh herb leaves. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over all.
3) Turn your attention back to the polenta, which should be hot and smooth. Shred fresh parmesan in, and add a thumbful of butter. Chop a chunk of the parmesan into small cubes and add those last.
Serve by putting polenta down and serving vegetables and pan juices over the top.
HM. I’ve been wanting to try polenta, but I’m on an anti-carb kick right now. Still, I’m tempted. How can you go wrong with onion, garlic, parmesan cheese, and carbs!?
MMM, have to try that one! Sounds great. My only polenta foray has been to cook it up with some minced onion and a bit of chicken broth. Chill. Slice and pan fry in butter till browned and crispy, serve with sliced sharp cheddar and salsa on top for breakfast. Love it with maple syrup that way too. Summer food IS the best.
If you are having problems with your photo account online, try Flickr.com I use it and it’s wonderful! I am not sure what sort of backround your webpage has, but I use Blogger and I’m easily able to link directly to my flickr photo using the url of the actual photo and then it shows up as a photo on my blog
Holy Yum! It’s 9am here, I’m drinking my morning espresso as the birds twitter and I get ready to take the pup out on her morning stroll, and yet…I’m strangely hungry for that abso-freaking-lutely yummy recipe you just posted…funny, I just picked up some white balsamic..ta-da! Thanks for sharing
fyi, I’ve started using Picasa (Google’s picture service) after being thrown to sea by Kodak Gallery…it is fantastic! Easy to use, easy to fix pictures and crop/colour/share…check it out.
This sounds awesome, especially as I’ve been looking for some meat free options for dinner just to mix things up. My last experience with polenta was very “eh, boring” but this sounds much, much better. Thanks!
i’m the polenta eater in my house, but my husband prefers grits. the kiddo likes cornbread, so it’s not hard to get him to eat polenta. (however, my 4 year old is a budding nutritionist-the more we sell something as being healthy the more likely he is to eat it. WEIRD-O!) polenta is really good grilled with a bit of marinara and mozzarella over it too. you have to chill it, cut it so it is about 1 inch thick or so and grill on a well-oiled stove-top grill. (my pregnancy brain is blanking on what those cook-top grills are called.) i don’t have one, so i usually fry it up in some olive oil.
mmm.. now i must make some tonight. i am incredibly susceptible to food suggestion these days.
I love polenta! I love it creamy and smooth and often substitute it for pasta in chicken parmesan or chicken cacciatore, but what is really cool is that it turns into an entirely new dish when it cools. You can then cut it into squares and pan-fry or grill it, and stack it with more deliciousness (I like balsamic glazed portobellos, basil and parm). Crispy on the outside,creamy on the inside, this will make a kick-ass leftover lunch for you.Excited for future pictures of food!
I LOVE fried polenta: pat it down into a loaf pan and chill it in the fridge, then slice it and lightly fry it in a bit of oilve oil until it is crispy and brown on both sides…YUMMMMMMM
was just wondering what to eat this week – thanks!
I LOVE polenta too. Baked polenta with melted mozzarella is the best! I hear ya though…kids don’t like it. I found a really easy recipe for polenta that you just put in pan, mix and bake. It’s so easy..but kids won’t touch it.
Something funky going on with site, before I go to comments it is just all white with no sidebar, pics or formatting. When I hit comments site is normal again. Just cause you needed one more thing to figure out….
Love polenta grilled with shrimp and red peppers. YUM.
Ditto what con said about the funky site layout.
I just KNEW you Yankees would eventually learn to love grits, even if you do have to call ‘em by some fancy Eye-talian name! Ha ha!
Ooo … four years in North Carolina taught me to love grits, C! I make a shrimp and grits that will make you cry and beg for your Momma!