Beef and Fresh Veggies over Polenta

I know this isn't the most beautiful picture of food, but it really was good! Its loaded with fresh green beans and zucchini. The veggie filled meat sauce tops a yummy creamy Parmesan polenta. I have tried polenta with my family several ways and they did not like it, but this time around...everyone ate it. Carl even said it was OK. I love polenta, so I'm happy to have found a way to get it into the rotation. I got this from this month's Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.

The next day, I took the meat and veggie mixture and minced it all up with a food chopper, into a pulp pretty much. Then I froze it into 1/2 cup servings in freezer bags. Its so easy to grab a bag and thaw it in warm water. Its thawed by the time you have pasta or rice cooked and makes for an easy, healthy, veggie packed meal for kids.

Beefy Polenta and Veggie Pie (adapted from Rachael Ray)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

One small zucchini, thinly sliced

1 onion, chopped

1 1/4 pounds ground beef

Salt and pepper

One 14.5-ounce can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

1 cup instant polenta

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

One 10-ounce package frozen green beans, thawed and drained In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and zucchini and cook, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, lower the heat and simmer. 2. In a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups water and 3/4 teaspoon salt to a boil. Whisk in the polenta until thickened, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the half and half, Parmesan and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth; pour into a large casserole dish. 3. Stir the green beans into the beef mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring, until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture over the polenta and top with more Parmesan.

Crispy Polenta with Cinnamon and Syrup

I love polenta. I just discovered it recently and I was so bummed that Carl didnt like it at all. I tried it several ways and he wasnt keen on any of it! Bummer! It looks like I have to add Polenta to the growing list of things that I only make when he is gone, or when I am up late at night alone, craving a midnight snack.

I love polenta sliced up and fried in olive oil until its crispy on the outside, but creamy on the inside. Then sprinkled with some cinnamon a pat of butter and some maple syrup....YUMMY!

Crispy Polenta with Cinnamon and Syrup

Sliced cold polenta about 1/2 inch thick
1 Tbsp olive oil
a dash of cinnamon
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a cast iron skillet until hot and almost smoking. Fry polenta slices for several minutes on both sides until golden and crispy. Drizzle syrup onto a plate, top with crispy polenta slices. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top and dab with a pat of butter. Enjoy.

Grilled Polenta with Fresh Tomato Sauce

This was such a great snack. Actually it was my lunch. Carl went out with Sam and Charlie is taking a nap so I decided to whip something up for myself that was really yummy and enjoy my lunch alone.

I sliced polenta 1/2 inch thick and brushed olive oil on both sides and grilled it for 5-7 minutes per side. Then I topped it with salt and pepper and cheese and fresh tomato sauce. The fresh tomato sauce is common in Spain. You just take a couple whole tomatoes and grate them on a cheese grater. All of the pulp and seeds and juices come out and you are left with the entire peel in your hands, which you toss. Season with salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil and you are ready to eat!

Grilled Polenta with Fresh Tomato Sauce

6 big slices of polenta, 1/2 inch thick.

olive oil

2 small tomatoes, grated to make a fresh sauce

Parmesan or feta cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Hoisin Mahi Mahi with polenta fries and green beans

Tonight's meal was really good. I made up a sauce with hoisin and soy sauce and I was planning on grilling these babies, but then I didnt feel like standing outside in the 110 degree heat, so I heated up my kitchen with the oven instead! Anyways, the mahi mahi turned out so good. Just the right amout of sweet and salty and spicy! The sauce was yummy, but could probably be scaled way down. I wrote out the measurements I used, but I had least half of the sauce left over.

I made the polenta fries from some polenta that I made earlier today from scratch that I let set up, then sliced into 1/2 inch slices. I plan on doing a whole entry just on polenta, so I will have the entire recipe there. These polenta fries were just fried in olive oil until crisp, then seasoned with plenty of salt and pepper and topped with parmesan cheese. Yummy! And the green beans were just steamed and tossed in butter, salt and pepper. What a great meal. Even Sam at every single bite, so that means it was a good one.

Hoisin Mahi Mahi

4 mahi mahi fillets, 1/2 inch thick
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 T sugar

Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper.

Whisk together the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, water, sesame oil and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Lightly brush the sauce onto both sides of the fish. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.