Hello, Polenta

The premade polenta at my local grocery store is tucked away in a weird tower of baskets by the deli. It seems as though they’ve been put there as an afterthought, which is too bad since polenta can be made into a zillion tasty treats. I tried out this recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food the other night and although the overall result was beyond salty, I think with a couple of minor changes this could be really delicious. I subbed out real sausage for the fake soy sausage (the Gimme Lean variety) which could have been the super salty culprit, but who knows. Next time I’ll tweak the recipe by swapping in some carrots and zucchini for half of the sausage to balance it out more. The most time consuming part of this was the prep work, other than that it’s easy to throw together and you get to buy two food items that come in tubes, which is fun in a severely limited sort of way.

Makes 4 servings:

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil (I just used some fat free cooking spray)
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
1 lb sweet italian sausage, casing removed (I used Gimme Lean veg sausage-again I’d recommend reducing this to half a pound)
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3/4 C marinated artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped (I just used regular canned artichokes)
Coarse salt and ground pepper (I’d leave out the salt and just use pepper, plus oregano and basil)
1 tube (18 oz) prepared polenta, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
1/3 C chicken stock (I used veggie stock instead)
1/4 C fresh parsley coarsely chopped (I left out the parsley)

I also would suggest adding:

6 baby bella mushrooms, diced

1 quarter of a red pepper, diced

1 small zucchini, quartered

3/4 C carrots, cut into rounds

Preheat your oven to 400. In a large skillet, heat oil or spray over medium high. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until it starts to smell yummy, 30 seconds. Remove skillet from heat and stir in artichokes, mushrooms, peppers, carrots and zucchini; season with pepper, oregano and basil. In a 2-qrt baking dish, layer polenta rounds and spoonfuls of sausage mixture in a domino-like formation. Pour stock over top and bake until bubbling and polenta is pale golden, 20-25 minutes.

Springtime Summer Rolls

Do you like buying tasty and fresh produce at your local farmer’s market? Of course you do. Do you like opening your refrigerator at the end of the week and seeing half of your delicious veggies staring back at you with sad, wilted eyes? No you do not. Take a break from boring salads and save your food from a neglectful death by making these easy summer rolls.

You’ll need:

Rice paper wrappers from the international aisle or your local Asian market

Dipping sauce (you can make your own or you can use store bought hoisin or plum sauce)

Pick your roll fillings:

Carrot and cucumber slices (cut into matchsticks)

Zucchini, cut into strips and sprinkled with salt and pepper

Avocado slices

Shredded lettuce

Fresh basil leaves

Fresh cilantro

Fresh mint

Cooked vermicelli rice noodles

Pan fried tofu

Fresh mango slices

Cooked shrimp

Cooked chicken

Peanut sauce

2 tbsp peanut butter (creamy or chunky both work)

2 tbsp warm water

1 tsp soy sauce

Lime juice to taste

Siracha to taste

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl

My favorite combo is carrots, cucumbers, basil, avocado, mango, vermicelli and tofu.

Be careful not to put too much of your fillings in your wrapper-the more stuff in your roll, the more difficult it is to roll it up neatly.

Slice and prep your fillings and soak the rice wrappers in warm water for about 5 minutes. Lay a wrapper on a plate or work surface and place your ingredients on the bottom third of the wrapper, leaving enough room on the sides that you’ll be able to fold them over (see illustration). Fold the sides in first and then fold the bottom up over your ingredients and roll the whole thing up! Dip in your sauce of choice and enjoy. Rolls kept in tupperware in the fridge will stay fresh for up to two days.

Chicken-less Chicken Soup

I recently started taking public transportation on a daily basis again which means I recently got a cold. Woo! I was craving chicken noodle soup, but am not a fan of the saltiness and questionable looking meat that comes in most canned varieties. A quick surveying of my pantry made me realize I could make my own version-weird chicken shapes not included!

You’ll need:

1 ½-2 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetarian No Chicken base (adjust according to how chicken-y you want your soup to taste)

3 large cloves garlic, minced

¾  tbsp fresh ginger, minced

1-1 ½ cups bowtie pasta (depending on your ideal broth to pasta ratio)

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup frozen broccoli

½ cup frozen corn

½ cup chopped red pepper

Fresh baby spinach

In a medium saucepan, cook your pasta until it’s slightly underdone (I cooked mine for 8 minutes). Drain and set aside. In a large pot, combine the bouillon with 5 cups water and simmer for a minute or two. Add the garlic, ginger and carrots and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the frozen broccoli and corn and cook for another 4 minutes. Throw in the red pepper and the pasta and let simmer for a minute while you get yourself a nice big noodle bowl. Serve yourself and stir in a handful of fresh baby spinach. You can also mix in a little siracha for extra spicy congestion busting power.