Ummm whats for dinner?

So on my way to the gym the other night I was talking to Alex and mentioned that we should have leftovers for dinner, his reply : ummm you mean the salmon cakes and I said  yea, we'll make them into salmon cake sandwiches...... Alex: oh I took those to work for lunch today. So yea, no lefites, no dinner ideas, no time.  I started to look around, I had leftover chili in the freezer, some frozen corn and polenta I had seen a recipe very similar to this so I went with it, last minute.

1 tube polenta
about 2-3 cups chlii
1 1/2 cups corn
1 tbsp chopped green onions (for topping)

I was thinking cheese would go well but instead made a 'sauce' for the top..

1 cup greek yogurt
1 tbsp margarine/butter
4 tbsp salsa verde (you could use any salsa)
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
and lots of texas pete.

This took about 3 mins to prepare, it took longer to make the sauce. Preheat the oven to 375. Karen gave me a GREAT polenta tip and that was to cut it using the egg slicer, or polenta slicer as I like to call it. Cut the tube into thirds and just slice away..


Before




After

This gets the polenta into very pretty, even  and thin slices. It has changed my polenta life.  Moving on..place your polenta into you baking dish....I started to cover it in chili then remembered to take a pic..

After you cover in chili add more corn (my chili had a little corn in it already)

Pop it in the oven for about 20 mins, everything is fully cooked so you really just want the flavors to blend. If you are adding cheese which I'm assuming most people would, I would add it between the polenta and chili layer and a little over the corn

While that was baking in the oven, I added my sauce ingredients to a microwave safe bowl

Then just cover with a towel and place in the microwave for about 1 min, take it out, whisk it up a bit, then put it in for another few mins.  Once the polenta dish comes out, Pour the sauce all over the top.. The sauce reminds me of the creamy/fat sauce that you get on some mexican dishes at a restaurant. It added good flavor.

Top with green onion, then serve...We put it on lettuce to make it a fake taco salad...

Chicken Sausage Polenta Bake

I bought a tube of polenta from Trader Joes a while back and never really knew what to do with it. After searching a few recipes I followed none and came up with one a few months back. Alex loved it and it was super easy so I decided to serve it up for some friends last week


2 tubes Polenta (I would use one if only for 2-3 people)
4-5 fully cooked chicken sausage
3 small yellow onions ( I like onions)
Olive oil
1 tsp butter (optional)
2-3 cloves Garlic chopped
Oregano, basil or Sage


Polenta Facts : Polenta was originally and still is classified as a peasant food. ($1.99 at Trader Joes, I'll take two..) Dubbed as 'italian grits' it can be purchased in tube form or a quick-cook ground substance that is boiled with water.

Cut the polenta into 1/2 inch thick rounds and place into greased casserole dish.

Saute the chopped onions (any other veggies, I had left over mushrooms from tuesdays paninis), garlic, and the cut sausage with the basil and oregano. Be generous with the olive oil bc this will become the 'sauce that you pour over the polenta in the baking dish so if its somewhat 'runny' this is preferred. You could also add a tsp of butter for a richer taste.

Now pour the sausage/veggie sauce over the polenta evenly. Lightly top off with your choice of cheese, I had Gorgonzola and feta.

Bake on 350 for 10-15 mins (everything is already fully cooked) then broil on lo for about 5 mins to your liking...



You could always use tomato sauce if you're in a crunch, cut up the polenta, chicken sausage pour the tomato sauce, dunzo.