I do my best to plan out a weekly menu based on what is in season, on sale and looking good in the produce section, but if your house is anything like mine things rarely go as planned. It never fails there is almost always at least one meal that doesn't get prepared. This week several meals didn't get made and I was left with an onion, two bell peppers, an eggplant, mushrooms and spinach.
I really hate to see good food go to waste, especially now that we're shelling out more money for organic produce, and not everything freezes well. This is why I like to have a few "Everything But The Kitchen Sink" recipes on hand, so that I can prepare a quick meal using whatever ingredients I have on hand. For about two years now my standby recipe was a simple fritata, but when your eggs are delivered from the farm on Wednesday and it's Tuesday night that isn't always an option. I recently discovered polenta and though probably not as healthy as a fritata, but it provides a welcome change around here.
Grilled Veggies
Eggplant - Trim ends and cut into 3/4-1 inch thick rounds.
Onions - Trim ends, peel, and cut into 3/4-1 inch thick rounds. Skewer to keep them from falling apart.
Bell peppers - Cut in half lengthwise, remove stem, seeds, and ribs.
Toss prepared veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on preheated gas grill for 10-25 minutes depending on your preferences, turning over at least once during the cooking. Saute the spinach and sliced baby Portabella mushrooms in a skillet with a little olive oil, s&p while they other veggies are on the grill.
Polenta - adapted from America's Test Kitchen
4 cups water
approx 1 tsp salt
2 cups coarse ground cornmeal (aka polenta grits)
2 tbps butter
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Boil salt and water. Slowly whisk in polenta. Return to boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook about 15-20 minutes or until done. Remove from heat, stir in butter and cheese.
See, I told you it was simple! I just chopped the grilled veggies and tossed them with the satueed veggies. I served the polenta in a bowl topped with lots of veggies. It would have been really nice to top with some fresh herbs, but I had none. The spinach was a bit wimpy in texture compared to the rest of the veggies and I think I'd use large Portabello mushroom caps and grill them in the future, but again the whole point was to use what I had on hand.
I really hate to see good food go to waste, especially now that we're shelling out more money for organic produce, and not everything freezes well. This is why I like to have a few "Everything But The Kitchen Sink" recipes on hand, so that I can prepare a quick meal using whatever ingredients I have on hand. For about two years now my standby recipe was a simple fritata, but when your eggs are delivered from the farm on Wednesday and it's Tuesday night that isn't always an option. I recently discovered polenta and though probably not as healthy as a fritata, but it provides a welcome change around here.
Grilled Veggies
Eggplant - Trim ends and cut into 3/4-1 inch thick rounds.
Onions - Trim ends, peel, and cut into 3/4-1 inch thick rounds. Skewer to keep them from falling apart.
Bell peppers - Cut in half lengthwise, remove stem, seeds, and ribs.
Toss prepared veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on preheated gas grill for 10-25 minutes depending on your preferences, turning over at least once during the cooking. Saute the spinach and sliced baby Portabella mushrooms in a skillet with a little olive oil, s&p while they other veggies are on the grill.
Polenta - adapted from America's Test Kitchen
4 cups water
approx 1 tsp salt
2 cups coarse ground cornmeal (aka polenta grits)
2 tbps butter
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Boil salt and water. Slowly whisk in polenta. Return to boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cook about 15-20 minutes or until done. Remove from heat, stir in butter and cheese.
See, I told you it was simple! I just chopped the grilled veggies and tossed them with the satueed veggies. I served the polenta in a bowl topped with lots of veggies. It would have been really nice to top with some fresh herbs, but I had none. The spinach was a bit wimpy in texture compared to the rest of the veggies and I think I'd use large Portabello mushroom caps and grill them in the future, but again the whole point was to use what I had on hand.
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