January 6th: Polenta with tomatoes, poblano peppers and portobello mushrooms

For Lunch, I decided to use polenta with tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers. I have to say that I am just starting to enjoy the subtle flavor of polenta. Well, at least polenta in a tube.

This first one pictured below is pan fried polenta topped with a sweet tomato reduction on a bed of sautéed poblano peppers, Portobello mushrooms and red onions. The tomatoes added a medium sweetness to the plate and the pepper and Portobello added a rich and robust flavor. The turning point was the addition of the red onions. With the already sweet tomatoes, the onions made this dish too sweet. I found myself wanting more polenta to balance out the flavors a bit more.

Polenta Covered with Tomato Reduction over Poblano peppers and Portobello Mushrooms.

Ingredients:

2-3 Tbsp of canned diced tomatoes, including liquid

1/2 tsp. of dried oregano

1 slice of Frieda’s organic traditional polenta tube

1/4 Poblano (Pasilla) pepper, cut into chunks

1/4 Portobello mushroom, cut into chunks

2-3 Tbsp. Morning Star Farm’s Meal Starters Griller’s Recipe Crumbles

1/4 Red onion, sliced

Olive oil for cooking

Add oil to a hot skillet. Add the Poblano pepper, onion, Portobello mushroom, morning start grounds. Sauté until browned, about 5-10 minutes. Sauté the polenta round in same pan. Remove both when cooked.

Add a little oil to pan and then add the tomatoes. Cook until liquid reduces and thickens. Add the dried oregano remove from heat. You’re done cooking now you can assemble your plate.

With this polenta round, I popped it in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes under broil at 400 F along with Morning Star Farm’s Vegetarian Bacon.

The flavor in this was much better than the first. The pepper added a hint of sweetness, while the “bacon” added a crunch. I also liked the meatiness of the portabello mushroom. The polenta in this plate was just enough to balance it all.

Introducing New item Of the Week & Challenge Rules

Lunch:

Tofu, cucumber and green sandwich with a little mayonnaise.

sliced cucumbers drizzled with 1000 island dressing.

A small cube of coconut jelly. I forgot to mention in my previous post that I ate about 5 of these last night. During the last process of making this last night, I forgot to stir the mixture together. The final product was left with some areas of creamy coconut on top. YUM! Very refreshing!

The finished platter.

New Item Of The Week: Polenta

Finally this is my first item for “New Item Of The Week section.” Two days ago I bought a tube of Organic Traditional Polenta. When I opened the package a little bit of liquid came out (To preserve the polenta’s freshness just like tofu?). I had no idea what I was going to do with it. Then I remembered what Valerie wrote me in an email, “Leng, I poach eggs in tomato sauce and then when the eggs are cooked, I put the eggs between polenta slices.  So it goes polenta, egg, polenta and all of it is covered in tomato sauce with spices!  Super yummy!  Also, you can bake polenta with olive oil and place or cut it into chunks and use it like you would pasta.”

I didn’t have any tomato sauce and was too lazy hungry to sort through my spices, so I just baked it in the toaster oven for about 10-15 minutes. I did not use any oil, so it stuck to the baking sheet a little. I decided to eat it on the side, plain….it was….too plain. Val was right, I should have used it like pasta instead of a stand alone side. It also had a gummy texture and soft inside. I am guessing this is from the way I cooked it….?  Too high heat? not cooked long enough?

I combined the polenta rounds with the cucumber rounds and dressing. This tasted better. I’ll have to find more ways to cook the rest of the polenta tube.

I am going to recycle some rules from past challenges. For the participants, listed below, let me know if there is a rule you don’t like or would like to add.

~~~Rules for Salad Challenge January 2010:~~~

(I listed examples below. You don’t have to follow the list if you do not want to).

1. at least 1 cup (2 handfuls) of raw green leafy vegetables

• Kale, Lettuce, Arugula, Collards, Escarole, Spinach, Swiss chard

2. Contain at least one serving from each of these food categories (these can be cooked or eaten raw):

• PROTIEN: legumes, tofu, seitan, tempeh, gluten, nuts, dairy,
• VEGETABLE (and/or fruit) of different color: carrots, beets, zucchini, sweet potatoes, radishes, bell peppers, red/green onions, herbs,
• CARBOHYDRATES: croutons, pasta,

4. Dressing is optional

5. Add something you consider fun:

• dried fruits, nuts, fresh fruit, more different vegetables (not leafy i.e. broccoli),  chocolate chips/carob chips or even potato chips

Participants:

• • Chanmary
  • Long
  • Leng
  • Tasha + 1:
  • Deb:
  • Elise
  • Valerie