Polenta & Sun-Dried Tomato & Mushroom Sauce

I have always enjoyed polenta.  In the past I had purchased it in the tube and sauteed it in a pan.  Today I decided to make it myself.  It was quite simple.  It was soft and delicious.  To make it firm to saute, just simply chill and cut later.  The sauce I made was dark and rich.  Maybe a little heavy for summer, but it was so good.  We were so hungry and ate it so fast, there were no pictures taken!


Polenta:


7 cups water
1 2/3 cups yellow polenta
2-3 tsp sea salt

• In a large saucepan, bring the water and salt to a boil over medium high heat
• slowly add polenta, while stirring with a whisk
• after all the polenta has been added, reduce heat to low and cook, with lid on, until all the water is absorbed and the polenta is thick, stirring occasionally
• this took about 15 min, but I let it sit in the pan for a good 30 with the lid on while I prepared the sauce.

Sundried Tomato-Mushroom Sauce

1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

8 oz baby portabella or other mushroom, sliced

1/4 cup red wine

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 med onion, finely chopped

3-4 sundried tomatoes, soaked in warm water until soft enough to dice

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

sea salt to taste

olive oil

• heat pan over medium-high heat
• drizzle with olive oil, enough to coat
• add onion, mushroom and garlic and saute for 3-4 min
• add basil and oregano and saute for 1 min
• add wine and saute 1 min
• add crushed tomatoes and sundried tomatoes.  Stir to combine and reduce heat to low
• cover and cook for 15 min, checking every 5 min.  Add small amount of water if starting to stick.
• taste and add salt to taste

New Location

Today I moved my blog from wordpress http://kinddietjourney.wordpress.com/ to blogger. I was unable to move any comments made before today. So, you'll have to look on the wordpress blog for those.

Thanks!

Alicia's Cheesecake

Baked vegan cheesecake

Today felt like it needed cheesecake. I have been wanting to bake a cheesecake forever. I think it is perfect that my very first cheesecake should be vegan. I used the cheesecake recipe in The Kind Diet. I love this book. I've yet to have a bad recipe, and this was no exception.

Mixing the Cheesecake filling in the blender

It was super easy to make and totally yummy. I put all the filling ingredients into my blender and simply poured it into the crust. I would have to warn that it is much more like a custard in texture than a cheesecake. If I was offering it to my non-vegan friends that is what I would call it. I also cheated. My local health food store had a vegan pre-made graham cracker crust, so I used that instead.

Right after I poured the filling into the graham crust

After realizing just how important and blender and food processor was I went and picked out the Ninja Master Prep Blender and Food Processor. I just love it. It's super easy to use and very quick clean-up. I will probably get a larger food processor bowl eventually, but for now this is perfect. Plus, it was really affordable.

Leftover Lovers

This morning was like any other. My husband wanted some hot cereal, so I started it for him. I'm a leftover girl. I prefer not to have to much sweet in the morning. The risotto from last night was calling my name and I thought it would taste just amazing with a baked sweet potato. So while the cereal cooked, I assembled my breakfast.

My husband is a strict, no leftovers for breakfast kind of guy. He usually wrinkles his nose and looks disgusted when me or the kids choose something savory for breakfast. So you can imagine my surprise when he came in for breakfast and saw my plate and asked if it was for him! Next thing I knew I was assembling a 2nd leftover plate. The hot cereal went to our Nuggets.

My New Favorite Thing To Cook

A little while back I made the Risotto from The Kind Diet. It was wonderful. Having always been intimidated by the thought of making a risotto, I was surprised how easy it was. So for our main meal today, I did it again. I followed the same basic steps, but I had different ingredients. This was flavored more like a pilaf. The carrots were added with the onion at the beginning and were perfectly done by the time the rice was ready. I just stirred in the frozen peas at the end. I had it with sautéed Gardein Scallopini (which I love!) and greens. My family loves this meal. It is very comforting and feels familiar to a bunch of new vegans.

Not So Fantastic Falafel

Ok, so when my husband and I were shopping last weekend we purchased two products form Fantastic. We had the Nature Burgers earlier this week and loved them. I felt like something fast and easy so we tried the l tonight. I didn't like it nearly as much. It dissolved in the oil, was way too dry and didn't taste that great. There were a lot leftover, which is never a good sign. The falafel I made a week ago were much better. Pics are here. I'm not sure if I did it wrong, so someone else might have better luck. However, making them from scratch was just as easy, and very tasty.

Dinner?

Today I made Fantastic Foods Nature's Burger for lunch alongside leftover Udon noodles from the day before. I've never made any of these mixes before, but I really loved the burgers, so did my family. They were simple to make, add hot water and let sit for 10 min, form patties and saute in pan until browned on both sides, even my hubby can do this. They were flavorful and would be wonderful on a salad or served with mashed potatoes, veggies and gravy for a comfort food meal. We had them on whole wheat buns with a variety of condiments. I liked vegenaise, fresh tomatoes, red onion & lettuce. Hubby liked mustard, pickles & BBQ sauce. My kids are simple, bring on the ketchup. I wouldn't have them all the time, but they are a great backup meal. I think I'll keep some in my pantry from now on. Just a note, the packages says it makes 6 patties. I was able to make 8 that fit our buns perfectly.

But temperatures are on the rise here and no one seems to want dinner. My husband opted to make a smoothie, my daughter and I finally caved and ate leftover cold noodles and my son had a leftover Nature Burger.

I had planned the menu for the whole week, but we are eating far less than we used to. We have all agreed that dinner should be snacks or leftovers, no one can work up an appetite in the heat. I don't even think summer has actually started yet!

Rich And Creamy Risotto

For dinner tonight, I made the Risotto recipe in The Kind Diet. I had so me beautiful asparagus I got this weekend, so I added asparagus to the recipe.

I have never made risotto before, so I was more than a little intimidated, but it wasn't hard at all, It just needed a lot of attention.

I also made collard greens for the first time. I stir fried them in a little olive oil and garlic. They were wonderful with the risotto.

Lunch Today

We had enough Tuna Salad (kinda) for more sandwiches today. I also made some peanut butter and jam sandwiches. This week I tried Ezekiel bread for the first time. Love the sprouted bread!

Kinda Tuna Salad

Today I made the Tuna Salad (Kinda) from Alicia's Kind diet. It was delicious. I was in a hurry, so I didn't blanch all the veggies, but it was still delicious. We like our veggies crunchy. It didn't hold together as well as traditional tuna salad, but it would be perfect in a pita. This didn't stop us from having it in a sandwich. It was cold and refreshing, perfect for a 90+ degree day.