Griddled Polenta Cakes with Roasted Vegetables

I've been meaning to try Polenta for a long time but have just never gotten around to it. Tonight, it became New Veggie #68 and the latest permanent member of my pantry. Although I've never really been a fan of grits (I need to give them another chance soon), I have always liked all other corn products so today I finally got around to making a lazy version, which turned out great! 

Griddled Polenta Cakes with Roasted Vegetables

Prep Time: 20 min

Ingredients (4 Servings):

1. 1 tube of Food Merchants Traditional Italian Polenta
2. Salt and Pepper, to taste
3. Roasted Vegetables (I used Zucchini and Haricot Verts today) with juices
4. Cooking spray, for skillet
5. Hot Sauce, to taste

Directions:

Slice the tube of Polenta into 12 round cakes, each about 0.5 inch thick. Preheat a skillet, or cast iron pan. Once the pan is hot, spray lightly with cooking spray and place each round cake on the hot skillet. As one side gets seared, turn over to sear the other side. This helps create a sort of skin on each cake and preserves the juices inside, leaving the inside soft and creamy, and the outside a little chewy. I served these tonight with my Oven Roasted Zucchini and Garlicky Haricot Verts. I drizzled whatever juices there were in the vegetable pans on top of the polenta and also drizzled with hot sauce. Umm Umm Good!!

My Assessment: I really liked it. Tony was not a fan - he thought it was pretty tasteless. I liked the fact that it retained its softness inside even though I seared the outsides. I liked the blending of the vegetable juices with the corn meal and how it basically imbibed the flavors of the roasted vegetables. It has definitely found a permanent place in my pantry!

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving of Polenta): Calories 105 (Fat Calories 0)
Total Fat 0 g; Carbohydrates 22.5 g; Dietary Fiber 1.5 g; Sugars 1.5 g; Protein 3.0 g

Veggie Fact of the Day

Our New Veggie Fact of the Day today will be short and sweet because these lovely beans are essentially Green Beans in French clothing. Haricot verts is French for green beans. Compared to their American counterparts, haricots are longer and thinner. 

In some parts of the world they're known as the Squeaky Bean due to the noise they make against the teeth while someone is chewing them.

Garlicky Haricot Verts

A friend of mine recently suggested Haricot Verts to me as a possible addition to my new veggie list and today they attained New Veggie #48 status.  

Garlicky Haricot Verts

Prep Time: 10 min

Ingredients: 

1. 1 lb fresh Haricots, whole, rinsed
2. 1/8 cup Vegetable broth
3. 1 tbsp minced Garlic
4. 2 tbsp Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
5. 1 tbsp Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
6. Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Line a skillet with 1/8 cut water or vegetable broth and add soy sauce and garlic. Once the garlic is fragrant, add haricots, give it a quick toss and cover. Reduce heat to medium and cook until tender. Then add oyster sauce, give it another quick toss and cook uncovered until all the liquid has evaporated. Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper, and add salt to taste, if needed. 

My Assessment: I liked these a lot, as did Tony and Alex ... Nik not so much today. Between the 3 of us we finished every last bean. The garlic added a ton of flavor and the Oyster sauce added a touch of sweetness. They were great. Alongside these french beans, Tony and I enjoyed a  poor man's dinner  ... Mixed Vegetable Ramen - which is basically, a pack of Ramen noodles, cooked without the seasoning that came with the packet, but with a ton of veggies and some soy sauce and whatever Asian seasoning/sauce we feel like (today I used Thai Peanut Sauce).