Polenta:
The recipe called for five cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of cornmeal, but I didn't have cornmeal, so I improvised.
5 cups water
1 cup washed quinoa
1 cup flaxseed meal
dash of sea salt
(handful of mushrooms)
(1/2 cup of grated cheese)
(2 eggs)
I boiled 5 cups of water and gradually added the quinoa and flaxseed until the mixture was creamy. It took about 15-20 minutes, stirring often. Then, I added a dash of sea salt. Once that was finished, I put it into a glass mixing bowl and set it aside to work on the next part. (Before I put it all in the oven is when I beat two eggs, 1/2 cup of grated cheese, and the mushrooms into it.)
Casserole Filling:
1 large onion, diced
1 large bell pepper, diced
2 eggplants, diced (My husband's organic garden variety are about half the size of the steroidal ones you get at the grocery store.)
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 cup fresh, chopped basil
1 sage leaf, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Once I set aside the polenta from the cooking pan into the mixing bowl, I used the same pan to sear and then boil a frozen chicken breast. I boiled it in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes. While that was happening, I went ahead and chopped my onions, bell pepper, eggplant, and garlic. I came back to my chicken breast and let it rest on a plate while I converted the stock into a glass jar for using in soups later. I don't know why it looks cloudy in this picture, because it's actually translucent.
Then, I put my chopped vegetables into the same cooking pan and started sauteing them while I diced the chicken breast on its plate. After that, I diced the tomatoes and added them to the other vegetables and continued to saute (about 10 minutes overall). I preheated the oven for 350 degrees. While the vegetables were continuing to saute, I chopped the basil and one sage leaf and added them and the chopped chicken breast into a 9"x13" casserole dish. Then I added the sauted vegetables to the casserole dish and tossed them all together.
This is the point where I then beat two eggs, a handful of mushrooms, and 1/2 cup of grated cheese into the polenta. I poured the polenta on top of the vegetables and put them into the oven for 40 minutes. (You can see in the picture that I also sprinkled some dry basil on the top. That was just to make it more photogenic.)
After 40 minutes, I opened the door to take this picture, but then I turned the stove off and let the whole thing cool down on its own--Free cooking energy! (I also burned my finger when I pulled the shelf out to take the pictures, and I'm icing it while I type. . .which is so annoying, and I don't recommend it!)
The End.
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