Thursday, September 8, 2011

Incredibly Cheap and Easy Comfort Dinner

Again, it’s been a while since I talked food. This summer has thrown me deep into a salad rut but I’m hopeful that the turn of seasons will help me snap out of it and get me back to cooking.

Tuesday night we definitely needed something other than salads. The entire day was cold and dreary; perfect for a warm, comforting dinner. Since I first tried the heat-and-eat polenta from Trader Joe’s last year I’ve made it once every month or so, with various toppings and methods of cooking. Tuesday night was another try, one Woody ended up really liking! The best part about it, I think it’s the easiest preparation I’ve tried and super cheap!

So here it is, super easy, super cheap:

Ingredients -

  • 1 package TJ’s polenta
  • 1 1/4cup TJ’s Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa (it’s really chunky and has a little kick)
  • 1/4cup small broccoli florets
  • 5 thin slices, sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation -

  • Pre-heat oven to 350’
  • Spray pie plate with non-stick cooking spray
  • Slice polenta into 8 even slices, place in pie plate
  • Spread broccoli over polenta slices evenly
  • Cover with salsa
  • Place in oven, bake for 20 minutes
  • Remove from oven, cover with cheese slices overlapping slices of polenta
  • Put back in oven, bake for another 10 minutes
  • Remove and serve

Now, Polenta is pretty high in sodium, so to try and balance that out I always look for tomatoes with no salt added. And while this isn’t necessarily the healthiest meal, it isn’t too bad either, especially when compared with other comfort dinners! And you can’t beat the price, this came in well under $10 for the entire dish. And of course, you can start with a little side salad! Woody really liked this dinner, so I’m bound to try it again and make a few tweaks along the way.

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  • What’s your favorite go-to easy to prepare comfort dinner?

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Today’s workout -

  • ab exercises
  • 4mile run
  • stretching

7 comments:

Christy @ My Dirt Road Anthem: A Runner's Blog said...

Spaghetti is my favorite comfort go to dinner. I don't think I have ever had polenta. I may have to try it, this looks really good.

RunToTheFinish said...

I've never tried doing any polenta at home...wonder if I can find something similar at WF

Lisa said...

Amanda - I have seen this type of polenta at Whole Foods. Let me know what you think if you try it!

Callie said...

Oh my goodness - I love cheap and easy. Great recipe idea! I feel like my go-to lately has been smoothies for dinner. I've been working out around 6:30 at night, so when I get back I want something to cool me down. Not really a comfort food. I guess my go-to would be a soup or honestly, some mac and cheese!

Lauren said...

Love polenta, now I want polenta. It's also easy (and cheaper) to make it from cornmeal, I know I know.
Our fave easy dinner probably the maya kaimal indian simmer sauces.

Lauren said...

Love polenta, now I want polenta. It's also easy (and cheaper) to make it from cornmeal, I know I know.
Our fave easy dinner probably the maya kaimal indian simmer sauces.

Megan (The Runner's Kitchen) said...

This post reminded me that I need to get to TJ's soon - love those fire roasted tomatoes :)