Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Sunday Night Polenta

My first attempt at polenta went so well that I thought I'd take another stab at it, but switch things up a little bit. I had no recipe, instead just threw some things together and hoped for the best. I literally put it together as I went along. Thank goodness, it turned out well. Better than the first try, actually!

For lack of more creativity, let's call this Sunday Night Polenta.
(for two)
ingredients:
1 tube prepared polenta
1 bunch mustard greens, washed thoroughly and chopped
1 cup diced, no salt added tomatoes
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup diced yellow pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1tsp extra virgin olive oil
Fresh smoked mozzarella
dried basil
fresh ground pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 350'.
2. Slice polenta into even slices and place in spray coated baking dish. over polenta with basil and onion. Bake for approx 20 minutes, flipping half way through.
3. Put mustard greens in a large saute pan, add olive oil, and cook covered until greens are bright in color and wilted.
4. Add diced tomatoes (with the juice from the can), cherry tomatoes, and yellow pepper. Sprinkle with pepper and basil. Cover and cook for several more minutes.
5. When polenta is cooked (should be firm but still give a little), plate a few slices in a large, low bowl. Top with mozzarella and then spoon tomato mixture on top. Add fresh ground pepper as desired.

This meal was fairly easy and healthy. I've noticed that polenta has quite a bit of sodium, so I tried to balance that a little by choosing the no salt added diced tomatoes. I know it's not a big difference, but little things add up! Woody and I agree that we enjoyed this polenta meal better than the first. While that was good, we liked the the somewhat stew-like texture that resulted from including the juice from the diced tomatoes. The smoked mozzarella also added a great flavor to the dish. We will definitely have this again!

What is your favorite type of cheese?
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workout stats -
4 mile run

9 comments:

Katie @ Health for the Whole Self said...

I love that you just threw that dish together as you went along. I'm getting more confident in my cooking skills, and hope to be able to do that successfully soon!

I like making little polenta pizzas - polenta slices topped with marinara, mozzarella, and some kind of veggie. YUM!

Silly Girl Running said...

That looks Yummy! I'll have to try that this week and call it Thursday Night Polenta. :)

Christina said...

Yum! I recently made a lasagna with polenta instead of noodles and loved it. I was looking for other ways to use it. Thanks for sharing this!

Tina L. Hook said...

Yeah, I want to try this.

Stopping by from SITS.

Golden Daily Scoop said...

Yum, need to try this! Thanks for sharing!

Jen Feeny said...

I'm not going to lie, this looks scary! (Not a fan of veggies! LOL!)

I awarded you! Check the blog for deets!

Tricia said...

yum!

Lauren @ girlwiththepinkhat.blogspot.com said...

I tried Polenta once and it did not turn out well. I will have to try your version soon!

Robyn @ Wannabe Writer Runner said...

Isn't the pre-made polenta tube the best food invention?? So glad it worked out well for you.