Tomatoes, Squash and Fresh Mozzarella with Creamy Polenta (Or without, whatevs)

I don't want to sound like a loser or anything but I've never had polenta before.  I've never cooked it before and I've never even seen it at the grocery store before.  I was wondering if I would even be able to find it but Bob's Red Mill came through for me.

If I'm being honest, I would have to tell you that I almost didn't even make the polenta.  I almost decided that it wasn't worth buying something I knew I wasn't going to like.  Then, I realized that I'm not a five year old and that this is the reason for the cooking group to begin with.  To learn new things.  To try new things that I wouldn't normally try.  To cook new things.  To eat new things.  To not be a 5 year old.  

After a pep talk in the mirror, I tried the polenta by itself and was less than impressed and wondered if maybe I was a 5 year old after all.  Determined to try everything together before I wrote off polenta forever, I dished everything up and took a bite.  And was pleasantly surprised.  All the flavor combinations really worked together.  The juices from the vegetables mixed with the polenta and it was really good.   It's almost like America's Test Kitchen knows what it's doing.  Weird.  And the texture of the polenta was completely lost in the vegetables and flavors.  I actually really liked it and would maybe make it again.  

 If you leave the polenta uncovered, it turns into a rubbery brick of cornmeal so make sure to serve it right away. 

And this is how the rest of the family ate their vegetables. Okay, fine.  This is how Tyler ate his and the kids pretty much had noodles with parmesan cheese.  (I forgot to add the mozzarella to his plate before the picture. oops)

I know what you're thinking, I should have just made them eat the polenta.  If they get hungry enough they'll eat it right?  Well, let's just say that all of my ideas about eating from my younger years have been blown out the window.  Like with a hand grenade.  I usually make them taste it and if they don't like it, they don't have to eat it.  When an autistic kid can't handle the texture of something, I don't make him eat it.  Or he will throw up.  Yeah.  And Tyler's decided he's pretty much autistic too so he got noodles.  And I can't punish Hadlee for being the only 'typical' one around here so she got to have noodles too.  (I learned that's what you call your normal kids when you have an autistic one, 'typical'.)  Maybe now that I'm more of a polenta eater, I will convert them in the future.  Like when all their taste buds have grown up a bit. :)  And Tyler did actually try a bite of the polenta with veggies and said it was pretty good.  He liked his noodles better though. :)

If you'd like to try the recipe you can get it at Janet's blog.  She was our host for the week and chose the recipe.  Thanks for making me try something new, Janet!

Here's what I did differently this week:

Not much.  I didn't have cherry tomatoes, but we have a lot of tomatoes in our garden so I used about 4 medium tomatoes, sliced them and roasted them in the oven.  Then, cut the slices into 4 quarters each and added them to the recipe like they were cherry tomatoes.  I didn't have fresh thyme so I used 1/4 tsp dried.  Other than those things, I followed the recipe pretty closely this week!  It's almost a record for me!

P.S.  I think I said 'polenta' 3000 times in this post.

Table Talk: Chickpea Cakes with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

Whaaat?  Who would pick that for their recipe?  Is this some kind of joke? 

Um, no.  Not a joke. 

It was my week to host.

And I was trying to choose a recipe that was new and different.  

I also noticed that we hadn't made anything from the vegetarian section of the book yet.

Have I told you that Tyler almost turned into a vegan a couple weeks ago?

Yeah, he eats humus now.

I'm not really sure how it all came about but it was about the same time he turned into a cowboy and started listening only to Country music.  Well, and Classical music sometimes.

Basically, he wanted to be a vegan cowboy.

It's weird, but that about sums up Tyler.  Weird.  But also why I love him.  

Never a dull moment and just the way I like it.

Anyway, I thought since he was a humus-eating-fool these days, it would be a good time to try and throw something like a chickpea cake on the table for dinner.  

A couple months ago, he probably would have taken one look at this and walked out.  Maybe for good, maybe just to head to McDonald's.  

We'll never know.

I chickened out during the last couple days and decided I had to at least make these into a sandwich.  

I mean, we've shown some progress in the eating healthy department lately, but just a chickpea cake might just be crossing a serious line.  Just to be careful, I threw in some buns, made from this potato bread recipe (I made one regular loaf and then 10 rolls with 2-2.5 oz of dough/roll).  

I'm pretty sure I would eat anything on that potato bread.

And then, like any other time I'm uncomfortable, I threw in some avocado and tomato.

I know what you're thinking.  Why am I being a freak when I'm the one who picked the dang recipe.  Because I'm a weirdo too.  That's why Tyler loves me. ;)

Mushroom-Artichoke Soup

When Tyler and I were newlyweds, I would sign up for cookbook of the month clubs.  I wanted the 8 free cookbooks (or whatever)!  It always ended up being a pain because I would forget to cancel my shipment for the month but it's one of the reasons I have so many cookbooks. That and sometimes I just can't resist, I NEED a cookbook.  

Mexican Lasagna

If you haven't noticed, I will eat just about anything with black beans and corn.  And most of the time, I end up loving it.  Funny for a girl who doesn't think she likes Mexican food, huh?  So when I saw this on Annie's blog last week, I knew I wanted to try it and I almost had everything to make it.  This was delicious and fairly healthy.  

Marinara Sauce

We are a spaghetti-loving family, I feel like you should know that about us.

Calvin had a treatment on Tuesday so yesterday we (well just he had to but we all did) had to avoid meat.  He loves pasta and I knew he wouldn't miss the meat so I decided to make marinara sauce.  I usually make  meat sauce and in the past when I have made marinara, I have just thrown a few things together.  I remembered seeing Giada make her sauce a while back and have wanted to try it.  Yesterday was the day.  

Quinoa Cakes with Poached Eggs

Ummm, what?!  I know what you are thinking.  I really don't have anything to say for myself.  I don't consider myself a gourmet.  And when I first saw this recipe on Annie's blog, I just skimmed it over and didn't give it a second thought.  When in the world would I ever make that?  I was there long enough to see her rave reviews but that's about it.  And I didn't know if I believed her.  

Roasted Tomato (Red Pepper) and Basil Soup

Speaking of healthy, wait until you see the info on this soup.  And it's meatless so I can check off one meatless meal for the week!  And it was so delicious.  And (are you sick of the "and" business yet?) I threw it in the crockpot after preparing everything and it was still delicious.  Which was perfect because I don't always know exactly when Tyler is going to get home, so when he did, I could do a couple things and serve dinner.

Udon Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms in Ginger Broth

 I have been trying to keep up with my goal of 2 vegetarian meals a week.  I just haven't posted them either because they haven't fit into my blogging schedule or because we haven't liked them enough to share.  If you remember, a couple weeks ago, I was cooking out of a Martha Stewart (Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes 2004) cookbook.  Of the recipes I tried, there was only one that I was 100 percent sure it belonged on the blog.  This dish was one of the others we tried and after dinner that night, my family wasn't all that impressed.  I thought they would love it.  I really liked it though and the more I have thought about it, the more I think it deserves a post.  I want to eat it again.  I wonder if I scaled back the ginger a bit next time if they would all be happier with the dish.  Either way, I am making it again and they are going to eat it.  Right?  Right!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

 I had planned on making a different kind of soup yesterday but when I went to the grocery store they had asparagus on sale.  That is something I can never pass up.  I started thinking about making cream of asparagus soup for dinner and wondered if it would be a shame to use such a lovely vegetable in that way; but I went for it anyway because it's something I've wanted to make at home.  I looked up a few recipes but none of them seemed like what I was after so I just decided to wing it.  That might not have been the best idea because I have had a string of kitchen disasters lately.  (I will post more about that when it's not so painful to talk about.)  When things don't go well in the kitchen, it really affects my mood.  Luckily for everyone around here, the soup was a hit.

Pizza X 3 (thin crust)

We don't usually eat a lot of homemade pizza.  I have never really found a recipe that I loved and Tyler is more partial to the Papa Johns type of pizza.  We had dinner with some friends this week and I left feeling a little inspired.  She does most of her cooking without meat!  Not that they are vegetarian, but she said she doesn't really know what to do with it.  I was a bit baffled, because I feel like I, more often than not, plan my meal around the protein.  One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to have a reason to challenge myself and try new things.  Before I left her house, I told her I was going to try at least 2 meat-free meals this week.  I also recently bought a new cookbook that included a pizza section and it called to me.  I decided that my first meat-free meal was going to be a pizza. 

I am now in love.