Ratatouille. It's always seemed much too fancy for me to make. Too fussy...and too intimidating.
Boy do I feel like a fool.
Ratatouille is easy as pie and it's a straight up snazzy way to get in all those great veggies. I made it for a dinner with my dad and his better half and I thought dismally, "Oh surely they'll hate it. I'm sure it's no good." This was of course, before actually tasting it. How good could it be anyway? It's just some veggies and tomato puree, essentially. It all seemed terribly effortless. A fool. Again.
This ratatouille is simple, delicious and downright lovely. Roasted eggplant, zucchini, yellow summer squash, and red bell pepper all roasted to perfection and perched atop a cheesy, creamy bed of polenta. Inspired by The Comfort of Cooking and theKitchn.
Ingredients
1 11 oz. can of tomato puree
½ medium yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
½ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. kosher salt
sprinkle of ground black pepper, to taste
sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 small eggplant, sliced thinly
1 medium zucchini, sliced thinly
1 yellow summer squash, sliced thinly
1 skinny red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cups of water
1 cup of dry polenta
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ up nutritional yeast
Instructions
Start by pouring the tomato puree into a medium baking dish. Scatter the diced onion and garlic evenly on the bottom of the dish, on top of the puree. Atop that, evenly scatter the herbs, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
Preheat oven to 375° F. Slice up all the vegetables into very thin disks. Then, starting with two disks of eggplant layer atop that, two disks of zucchini, two of the squash, and followed by one of the bell pepper. When layering, ensure only a small crescent of the bottom vegetable disk is showing. Repeat until all the vegetables are used up. The vegetables may have to be in stacked lines atop one another and that's okay. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Drizzle the veggies with olive oil and a little dried herbs. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling up and the vegetables are cooked.
Bring the water and salt to boil over high heat. Add in the polenta and whisk vigorously, until it's thickened slightly. Then, turn down to low and cover. Every 10 minutes, stir vigorously scraping along the bottom and sides. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until it's smooth and thick. Remove from heat and stir in the nutritional yeast.
Serve the ratatouille over the polenta. Drizzle with a little olive oil if you want!
Prep time:
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Yield: 6-8 servings
Blueberries, sweet corn and toasted coconut. Some may think it's an odd combination, but I am here to assure you that it is an absolute divine marriage of flavors and texture. I'd never had polenta for breakfast and I thought it was about time. It's kind of like oatmeal for breakfast but the polenta is a finer texture of course and maybe a bit sweeter. It's fun to try new things! So, if you're bored of oatmeal try this breakfast instead and think outside the oatmeal box.
When I first ditched cow's milk a couple years ago, I tried Silk's coconut milk. It was watery and bland to say the least and it made me very sad. I forgot about coconut milk and moved onto almond milk. Later down the road, of course, I began to make my own almond milk! If you want to learn how and all the lessons I found out the hard way, check out my post here.
Well, I recently decided to give Silk's coconut milk a go again. It had "Great New Taste!" slapped across the front of the carton so obvs I had to see what was up. I can't be passing that up! Boy am I glad I didn't...it was delicious! Their new coconut milk is creamy and thick, silky and very coconutty.
I don't want to know what kind of coconut-flavor additives they put in there to get it that way, because I am sure that their original coconut milk was probably more akin to the coconut milk that'd one would actually get from a real, legit, hairy coconut. Out of curiosity I looked at the ingredients and they are, " Coconutmilk (Filtered Water, Coconut Cream), Cane Sugar, Natural Flavor, Carrageenan, Yam Flour." Apparently coconut milk is one word? I don't know...is that right?? Anyways, nothing seemed to crazy. Carrageenan isn't that great, but it's pretty unavoidable if you're buying carton non-dairy milk of any type.
Regardless of how they do it...what I know is that I love the new wonderfully coconutty flavor! So, of course, it was the perfect milk to go along with this breakfast polenta. The toasted coconut chips give a wonderful and toasty crunch. The sweet corn kernels are delightful bursts of texture and the show-stealer of this dish is of course the wild blueberries!
Wild blueberries and store-bought blueberries are two entirely different creatures. If you can get your hands on some wild ones, I think you'll find that they're delightfully tart and bursting with flavor, as opposed to their lackluster cousins at the store. They're smaller as well much less watery. Here, I used my wild, frozen berries and just popped them into the bowl! No need to thaw them out or anything like that. They're perfect as is. Oh wonders of the universe, take my back to Saturday please!
4 cups of coconut milk (and a little extra for serving), I use Silk's Original Coconut Milk
1 cup dry polenta
1 cup sweet corn kernels
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cardamom
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup blueberries, I used wild frozen
To toast the coconut chips, if already not toasted, bake at 300 F on a clean cookie baking sheet for about 15 minutes. The coconut should be in "chip" style as opposed to "flakes". Below are coconut "chips".
In a medium saucepan bring 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk to a boil. Add the dry polenta and whisk continually for about 5 minutes, until it's very thick.
Add the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut milk as well as the sweet corn kernels. Whisk well to combine and then remove from heat.
Add the remaining ingredients excluding the coconut chips and the blueberries and stir well to combine.
Garnish each bowl with a quarter of the coconut chips and the blueberries.
Pour however much milk you'd like over the polenta and serve warm.
Bobby enjoyed his warm breakfast of peanut butter and puppy chow!
A wonderful and warm breakfast for a rainy, late summer Saturday.
Blueberry Breakfast Polenta with Toasted Coconut
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Author: Katie - Produce On Parade
Serves: 4
Toasted coconut chips give a wonderful and toasty crunch, the sweet corn kernels are delightful bursts of texture and the show-stealer of this dish is of course the wild blueberries!
Ingredients
1 cup coconut chips, toasted
4 cups of coconut milk (and a little extra for serving), I use Silk's Original Coconut Milk
1 cup dry polenta
1 cup sweet corn kernels
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cardamom
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup blueberries, I used wild frozen
Instructions
To toast the coconut chips, if already not toasted, bake at 300 F on a clean cookie baking sheet for about 15 minutes.
In a medium saucepan bring 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk to a boil. Add the dry polenta and whisk continually for about 5 minutes, until it's very thick.
Add the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut milk as well as the sweet corn kernels. Whisk well to combine and then remove from heat.
Add the remaining ingredients excluding the coconut chips and the blueberries and stir well to combine.
Garnish each bowl with a quarter of the coconut chips and the blueberries.
Pour however much milk you'd like over the polenta and serve warm.
Lemony Garlic Pasta with Brussel Sprouts & Crispy Polenta. What's wrong with me? Ugggh. This might be my longest dish name ever. Apparently naming dishes is not in my book of talents...or is it? I guess it depends on who you ask.
Regardless of it's name, this pasta dish was pretty bomb-diggity. Unless you don't like brussel sprouts or polenta. But who doesn't? What's almost as good as this pasta was how quick and easy it was to make, not to mention it's pretty darn healthy. Everything can be prepared and cooked while the polenta bakes in the oven and the sauce is already made thanks to Citizen Chef.
Citizen Chef is my personal sous chef. No, that's a lie. It a food company that has a line of ready-made, fresh sauces and salads. Normally I'm not really big on pre-made things like sauces, but sometimes I'm just too busy to whip one up myself. Imagine that. We can all relate, yes? Yes. Okay, so here's what you need to know about this ready-made Limone Garlic Sauce from Citizen Chef so you can hurry up already and get back to your busy life.
Limone Garlic Sauce by Citizen Chef
What: The Limone Garlic Sauce is "made from scratch with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and a fresh squeeze of lemon." It can be used in simmering, grilling, sauteing, and baking. This particular sauce is made primarily from a vegan stock, onions, olive oil, garlic and lemon. There's four servings per container with 70 calories a serving. What I really liked about this sauce in contrast to many others, is that it's not loaded with sodium. It has 250 mg per serving which is less than most I've seen.
Why: Our world is a busy one and sometimes we have to choose between healthy food and fast food. But thanks to Citizen Chef, when crunch time comes it's nice to know that you can reach for a prepared sauce and whip something up that's healthy as well as fast. All of the ingredients in the Limone Garlic Sauce are natural and there's no artificial flavors or preservatives, because seriously we don't need them.
In addition to actually cooking a meal, sometimes finding a recipe can be just as consuming. Don't worry though, Citizen Chef's got your back with recipes on their website specific to what sauce you'll be using. Whew! Their "...passion is to empower people to make healthier choices for their bodies, their families, and the planet..." So join them! It's easy when half the work is already done!
Where: Take a look at these retailers to find Citizen Chef products, including Costco and Safeway.
Recurrence: I wasn't able to find Citizen Chef at my local grocery store and the closest Costco is a little over one hour away, so I haven't made it there yet. When I do though, you can bet I'll be picking up some of these sauces for those days of the week that get a little cray cray.
So avoid eating Oreos for dinner (I never do this...) and whip up a meal as quick as it'd take you to open that cookie package. If you're not keen on lemon and/or garlic (say what?!) you're sure to find one you enjoy, like Thai Coconut, Chipotle Adobo, Hawaiian Pineapple BBQ or others. You might just see a review for a different flavor later down the road!
Lemony Garlic Pasta with Brussel Sprouts & Crispy Polenta
Inspired by myself
Serves 4
9 oz. of pre-cooked round polenta (half a tube), diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups brussel sprouts, ends removed and halved
3 Tbsp. of water
1 13 oz. box of your favorite pasta (I used whole wheat linguine)
1 10 oz. container of Citizen Chef's Limone Garlic Sauce
fresh lemon thyme for sprinkling (optional)
vegan parmesan cheese (I use Parmela)
Start by preheating the oven to 450 degrees. Dice up the precooked polenta into bite sized pieces and arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, ensuring that they don't overlap. Once the oven has reached temperature, bake for 30 minutes or until crispy on the outside.
Wash the brussel sprouts and chop them in half. Make sure to cut the stems off at the end first and discard any leaves that fall off after being halved. Feed them to your dog. Bob loves them!
In a large frying pan heat the olive oil, then add the halved brussel sprouts. Allow them to brown slightly over medium heat. This will take about 5-10 minutes. After they've browned, add in the water and cover. Turn to low and allow them to cook for about 10 minutes or until they justbecome tender. If you prefer your elf heads on the crunchier side, feel free to only brown them.
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While the brussel sprouts steam, cook the pasta according to the package then drain it and return it to it's pot.
Once the sprouts and polenta are all finished cooking, combine them in the pasta pot including the entire container of the Limone Garlic Sauce and mix well to combine. Serve hot with a sprinkle of fresh lemon thyme and vegan parmesan cheese. Dinner's done and in record time!
Lemony Garlic Pasta with Brussel Sprouts & Crispy Polenta
Recipe Type: Entree
Author: Katie - Produce On Parade
Serves: 4
Pan-fried brussel sprouts and crispy, baked polenta mix with linguini and a ready-made lemon garlic sauce for a fast, simple and healthy dinner with help from Citizen Chef.
Ingredients
9 oz. of pre-cooked round polenta (half a tube), diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups brussel sprouts, ends removed and halved
3 Tbsp. of water
1 13 oz. box of your favorite pasta (I used whole wheat linguine)
1 15 oz. container of Citizen Chef's Limone Garlic Sauce
fresh lemon thyme for sprinkling (optional)
vegan parmesan cheese (I use Parmela)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Dice the precooked polenta into bite sized pieces and arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Once the oven is ready, bake for 30 minutes or until crispy on the outside.
Halve the brussel sprouts. Make sure to cut the stem off at the end first and discard any leaves that fall off after being halved.
In a large frying pan heat the olive oil, then add the halved brussel sprouts. Allow them to brown slightly over medium heat. This will take about 5-10 minutes.
Next, add in the water and cover. Simmer cook for about 10 minutes or until they become just tender.
Cook the pasta according to the package then drain it and return it to it's pot.
Once the sprouts and polenta are all finished cooking, combine them in the pasta pot including the entire container of the Limone Garlic Sauce and mix well to combine.
Serve hot with a sprinkle of fresh lemon thyme and vegan parmesan cheese.
