Summer Soup

Adam saw this recipe on Giada at Home and immediately decided he wanted it. Anytime Adam says he wants a soup, I go with it, as it doesn't happen very often. This soup has a great kick and is perfectly refreshing for summer. The recipe calls for polenta croutons, but we just made a loaf of bread as an accompaniment and topped the gazpacho with a dollop of yogurt. This was a perfect meal for a summer weeknight.

Cherry Tomato and Chile Gazpacho (Giada at Home, www.foodnetwork.com, Giada De Laurentiis)

Gazpacho:

1 lb. ripe cherry tomatoes (about 4 cups)

2 medium cucumbers, peeled and chopped, or 4 Persian cucumbers, chopped

1 jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, deveined, and coarsely chopped

1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, deveined, and coarsely chopped

1 large or 2 small shallots, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

2 to 3 tsp. hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning

Croutons:

vegetable oil, for frying

1/2 tube (9 oz) store-bought, pre-cooked polenta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 Tbs. grated Parmesan

1. For the gazpacho: Place the tomatoes, cucumbers, chiles, shallots, garlic, vinegar, hot sauce, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, to taste. Refrigerate for 2 hours until ready to serve.

2. For the croutons: In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan with 1 inch of oil. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 375 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer, a cube of bread will brown in about 3 minutes.) Working in batches, carefully add the polenta cubes and fry, stirring occasionally to keep the cubes separated, until golden brown, about 2 minutes.

3. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

4. To serve: Ladle the gazpacho into 4 soup bowls and top with the polenta croutons.

Rustic Comfort

Clearly, the name of the game recently has been comfort food. This is a more elegant and rustic countryside type of comfort food. The heartiness of the sausage and mushrooms paired with the creamy polenta and the side of sauteed chard with garlic is perfect for a chilly fall night.


Mushroom-Sausage Ragu (Food and Wine Magazine, October 2010)

We used veggie sausage instead of meat sausage to make this recipe vegetarian. We also substituted dried porcini mushrooms instead of dried morels because of availability. In addition, we omitted the water chestnuts because neither of us are fans.

1 cup dried morel mushrooms
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 sweet Italian sausages
1/2 lbs. shiitake caps, quartered
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 thinly sliced shallots
6 water chestnuts, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
chopped parsley, for garnish

1. Soak the morels in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water until softened. Rinse and pat dry; reserve the soaking liquid. In a skillet, heat 1 Tbs. of the oil. Add the sausages, cover and cook over moderate heat until no longer pink within; slice 1/4 inch thick. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Add the shiitake, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened. Add the shallots and morels; cover and cook for 4 minutes. Add the water chestnuts. Pour in the morel soaking liquid. Add the sausages and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Off the heat, swirl in the butter and sprinkle with parsley. Serve over polenta.

Veggie and Polenta Perfection

This meal, once again, took no time to prepare. It's a perfect weekday dinner that gives you all the nutrients you need after a hard day's work. Polenta is covered with an array of sauteed vegetables and baked tofu. You can use any vegetables you have on hand, these just happened to be what we had in the fridge.

Polenta with Sauteed Vegetables and Savory Baked Tofu


4 cups water
1 cup Polenta
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. butter
2-3 small zucchini, sliced into rounds
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 portobello mushroom, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package Savory flavored baked tofu, cubed
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare polenta by boiling and salting the water. Add the polenta and stir until slightly thickened. Lower the temperature to medium-low and allow the polenta to completely thicken, stirring occasionally. This will take 20-25 minutes. Stir in the butter.
2. Meanwhile, saute the zucchini rounds in a large skillet with a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the rounds are slightly browned, turn them and add the onion and mushroom. Once the onion and mushroom have softened, add the garlic and tofu. Saute until everything is at its desired doneness. Add the cherry tomatoes and heat through. Season to taste. Serve over the polenta, and enjoy!

San Fran Worthy

I have gotten really into soyrizo--the soy version of chorizo. And, it's a soy product that Adam doesn't seem to mind at all. It's full of fantastic flavor and isn't nearly as greasy as it's meaty counterpart. We became inspired by walking around our farmers' market and decided to create a warm soyrizo, arugula, and tomato salad topped with breadcrumb encrusted goat cheese rounds and served with a side of polenta. This meal was super easy, even the goat cheese rounds! Adam and I decided that this meal was fit for a posh San Francisco brunch spot, but perhaps we're a bit biased.


Polenta with a Warm Salad and Goat Cheese Rounds

1 cup polenta
1 package soyrizo
3 cups arugula
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
4 oz. goat cheese, sliced into rounds (it works well to cut the cold cheese with a piece of dental floss)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1. Prepare polenta according to package directions.
2. Heat a bit of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add soyrizo and cook until it browns. At this point, add the arugula and grape tomatoes. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste, then turn off the heat.
3. To prepare the goat cheese rounds, dip the goat cheese into the beaten egg, and then coat with the breadcrumbs. Heat some canola or olive oil in a small skillet on medium-high heat. Place the coated goat cheese rounds in the hot skillet until browned on one side. Flip the rounds and brown on the other side.
4. To plate the meal, put polenta to one side of the plate. Cover with the soyrizo and arugula mixture and then top each plate with two goat cheese rounds.

Try Again

This Tuesday night meal was not our hugest success, but I believe if we hadn't overcooked the meat and uncooked the veggies, it could have been delicious. I know I'm not giving this menu of polenta, stuffed chicken, and roasted vegetables a good rep, but I would definitely try it out for yourself. Thank goodness the polenta saved the night!


Buttery Polenta (Cooking Light, October 2007)

5 cups water
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup dry polenta
2 1/2 Tbs. butter
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine 5 cups water and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Gradually add polenta, stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes or until mixture is thick, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and pepper.


Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Garlic and Herbed Goat Cheese (Cooking Light, October 2007)

To make this veggie-friendly, I stuffed a portabella mushroom with the goat cheese mixture. And, honestly, I think this could have been delicious had it not been a little dry.

1 whole garlic head
1/3 cup (3 oz.) goat cheese with herbs, softened
6 (6-oz.) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate cloves). [I didn't follow this direction. I find it a lot easier to peel and separate the cloves before roasting, then cover in olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil.] Wrap head in foil. Bake at 350 for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins. Combine garlic pulp and cheese, stirring well; set aside.
3. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff about 4 tsp. cheese mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle chicken evenly on both sides with salt and pepper.
4. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn chicken over. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165; let stand 5 minutes.


Autumn Vegetable Medley with Rosemary and Nutmeg (Cooking Light, October 2007)

I suggest watching the vegetables closely and allowing them to cook a little longer. They just weren't as soft and roasted as I had hoped they would be.

1 (9-oz.) fennel bulb with stalks
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
1 1/2 cups (1-inch-thick) slices parsnip
1 1/2 cups (1-inch-thick) slices carrot
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
dash of freshly grated nutmeg
cooking spray
1/3 cup (1 1/2 oz.) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Trim tough outer leaves from fennel. Cut fennel bulb in half lengthwise; discard core. Cut each half into three wedges. Combine fennel and next 8 ingredients in a large shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle vegetable mixture with cheese, if desired.

Roasted Tomato and Polenta Perfection

We had a bunch of leftover herbs from the tofu meal, so we decided a pesto dish was in order. We oven-roasted mini tomatoes and pan-fried polenta to make a delightfully delicious dinner that was sweet and tangy, smooth and crispy. This meal tantalizes all your taste buds.


Polenta with Oven-Roasted Tomato and Pesto

Pesto is a great way to use up extra herbs. You can combine any herbs with any type of nut, a bit of cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper with some olive oil in a food processor and create a fantastic pesto. I didn't put any (or many) ingredient amounts because we just used what we had. Simply test your pesto out to make sure it has the right combination of flavors.

1 package mini tomatoes (approximately 2 cups)
olive oil
salt and pepper
basil
parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 handful walnuts
Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 package polenta

1. Preheat oven to 300. On a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil, place all of the tomatoes. Coat tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Bake in the oven for 2 hours until soft and caramelized.
2. In a food processor, combine basil, parsley, garlic, walnuts, cheese, salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil through the spout as the food processor is running until desired consistency of pesto has been reached.
3. In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 Tbs. olive oil over medium heat. Add the package of polenta, breaking polenta into pieces. Saute until the polenta has become crisp and slightly browned on the outside.
4. Plate by placing the polenta on the plate, top with tomatoes, and dollop with pesto. Enjoy!