Vegetables with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Polenta

I made my own polenta rather than going for the instant stuff (and definitely not the premade stuff). The veggies were pretty basic, and the sauce was SPECTACULAR. I will totally use that again...for pasta sauce, sandwich spread, whatever!

This recipe served the three of us. I'm going to break it down into its three parts.



Polenta

3 cups stock or water
1 tsp butter
1 cup coarse cornmeal (I used medium grind because that's what I had, and it worked fine)
2/3 cup grated parmesan (divided in 2)
Dash of cayenne

In a saucepan, bring stock or water to boil. Add butter and allow to melt. Slowly pour in cornmeal, whisking to keep it from clumping together. Turn heat down to low, cover, and stir every couple of minutes to keep it from clumping or burning to the bottom of the pan. This will take about 35 minutes to thicken. Stir in 1/3 cup parmesan and the cayenne, and taste for seasoning. If you're using water, you may need to add salt.

Pour into a lightly creased cast iron skillet, or 9" pie pan, and set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

Once the veggies (the next step) come out, top the cooled polenta with the final 1/3 cup parmesan and place under broiler about 15 minutes or until top is golden brown.

If you like your polenta loose, serve it up immediately. If you like it a little more like a cake, let it sit 20 minutes or so to set.

Vegetables

Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
1 tblsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 tblsp chopped fresh thyme
10 small asparagus stalks, ends trimmed
4 green onions, trimmed
2 small Chinese eggplants, cut into 1/3" half circles
1 small yellow squash or zucchini, cut into 1/3" half circles
10 cherry tomatoes

Preheat broiler and set the rack to about 6" from the top. Line baking sheet with foil.

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add the vegetables and toss to coat. Arrange on baking sheet in one layer and pop into oven for 5-10 minutes (or more) until you start to see colour on the vegetables.

Flip the veggies and roast for an additional 5-10 minutes, remove from oven and let cool.

(At this point you'd toss the polenta into the oven)

Sauce

1 jar of roasted red peppers, drained
1/3 cup broth
1 large clove garlic
A few leaves of fresh basil
1 tblsp balsamic vinegar

Throw all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend up. My red peppers had bonus!garlic so I threw those in, as well as the raw garlic. I love garlic!

Putting it Together

Top a slice of polenta with some roasted veggies and smother with sauce. I garnished with a bit more fresh basil and a few black olives.

Seeded Soda Bread (WF)

I love the ease of soda bread. No yeast so no rising time. I based it off this recipe.



I used the seeds I had on hand, but would love to try this with sunflower seeds as part of the mix. The original recipe suggests a combo of (2 1/2 tblsp EACH) sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and flax seeds, with a more minor addition (1 tsp) of fennel seeds.

Here's what I did:

2 1/2 tblsp sesame seeds
4 tblsp flax seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 3/4 cups spelt flour (with 1/4 cup possibly more)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 3/4 cup butermilk

Preheat oven to 400 and place silpat (or parchment) on a baking sheet.

In a small bowl, mix seeds, put aside.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in all but 2 tblsp of the seeds. Add buttermilk and mix with a dough hook until dough just comes together. If it's a little sticky, a a bit more flour until it's workable.

Don't take too much time because you want the baking soda to do its work in the oven.

On a lightly floured surface, roll into a ball and transfer to the baking sheet. Cut a deep x in the top of the loaf, brush on a little extra buttermilk, and sprinkle remaining seeds on top.

Bake on the middle rack of your oven for 45 - 50 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Cool on a wire rack.

Cornmeal Tilapia and Garlic Scented Broccoli

The dipping sauce is mayo, dijon mustard, honey and dill. Very good.



Tilapia is dipped in buttermilk and then dredged in cornmeal seasoned with a little garlic powder and chili powder. Frying up in a titch of oil in a frying pan makes the crust crispy and delicious.

Broccoli is made by putting about an inch of water in a saucepan, a tsp or so of olive oil, and cracking (but keeping mostly whole) 2 cloves of garlic and bringing to a boil. Add broccoli florets (and peeled stems if you like) to steam the broccoli tender crisp.

Spelt Oatmeal Bread (WF)

Wheat free bread is a staple in our house. This makes 2 loaves. Taken from this recipe.



2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup honey
2 tblsp butter
2 tsp salt
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 large egg
4 1/2 cups spelt flour

In bowl of mixer (fitted with dough hook), combine boiling water, oats, honey, butter and salt and let sit.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees) and a drip of honey. Let stand 10 minutes to proof.

Add yeast mixture to the bowl of a mixer and mix well. Add egg and mix, then add flour and mix until dough is smooth and elastic. If it's sticky, add more flour 1 tblsp at a time. Spelt flour is more delicate than wheat flour, so you need to be careful and not abuse it)

Lightly oil a large bowl and add dough, turning to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside to rise in a warm place until dough doubles, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375.

Punch down dough, place on lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 balls. Form into loaves and place into 2 lightly oiled loaf pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise again for about 40 minutes (until doubled).

Bake about 30 minutes, until top of loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you thump it. Remove from loaf pans gently and let cool. If you like, you can top with a little melted honey and sprinkle with a few oats.

Jack and the Bean Stack

This is a recipe from my Crazy Plates cookbook by the Podleski sisters.

The original recipe calls for flour tortillas, but I'm using corn tortillas from a local Mennonite joint. I would have used diced avocado on top (because we love avocado) but there weren't any ripe ones in the store today.



3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup whole-kernel corn
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup unpeeled, diced zucchini
1/3 cup grated carrots
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp chili powder
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
1 tblsp lime juice
6 small corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Farmer's Marble cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped lettuce
Sliced black olives
Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a nonstick saucepan, saute most of the tomatoes, onions, jalepenos, carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, corn, garlic, chili powder and cumin for about 5 minutes. Add drained and rinsed black beans and cook an additional 2 minutes.

Place 2 tortillas on a cookie sheet. Spoon veggie/bean mixture onto both tortillas, top with cheese. Pop on a second tortilla, spoon more veggie/bean mixture, top with cheese, and finish with a final tortilla and a little more cheese.

Pop in oven for 15 minutes. Until cheese is melted and edges have a little colour.

Serve with black olive slices (if you like), some chopped tomato, fresh chopped cilantro, sliced green onion, and lettuce. Serve with sour cream.


It was a little difficult to cut with the corn tortillas (the flour would have been easier), but this would make an incredible veggie taco deal. That's how we'll eat it next time.

This Week's Plan...

This week, I'll be making some mouthwatering meals (if I do say so myself).

In no particular order:

- Jack and the Beanstack - Essentially a stack of beans, veggies, cheese and tortillas. The original recipe calls for flour tortillas but in our attempt at eating wheat free, the tortillas will be replaced with fresh corn tortillas made locally.

- Coconut and Tofu Soup - As made here, but replacing the chicken with tofu.

- Sweet Potato Curry - If I can't find butter beans, it will just be chick peas.

- Buttermilk and cornmeal crusted fish with herb roasted potatoes and some green veggie type thing (we'll see what we come up with at the grocery store tomorrow...the fish will probably be tilapia)

- Falafel with tzaziki and a quinoa salad.

I probably shouldn't be writing about food when I'm hungry!

Oat Bars (WF)

In our endeavor to wean ourselves off of wheat, I made these oat bars to take the place of the cookie snacks Quinn enjoys. The only down side is that I can't pack them up to bring to the gym child care centre, as they are peanut free, but we'll just have to bring fruit or something.

I found these to be a little crumbly, so I'd probably add a bit more honey in the next batch...and I won't bother adding the fruit either. Don doesn't like dried fruit, and judging by the smeared, half eaten dried blueberries on the floor, Quinn doesn't either. Oh well!



2 cups puffed rice
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds, shelled
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup mixed dried fruit, chopped (optional...our bulk store has a great selection)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup rice flour
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey


Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Line a 9x13 baking pan with wax or parchment paper, including up the sides.

In a large bowl, toss in the puffed rice, rolled oats, sunflower and sesame seeds, dried fruit, rice flour and chocolate chips. Mix well.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, and honey and heat gently for 2 minutes or until it becomes runny. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until coated.

Using a piece of wax paper to protect your fingers, press the mixture firmly into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove and let cool and crisp in tin before cutting it into bars. Store in an air-tight container. Makes 20 bars.