Thursday, March 15, 2007

Balsamic Creation






I've been intrigued lately by balsamic vinegar and decided to bite the bullet and purchase some during my last shopping spree. As usual, I had some items to get rid of in my fridge- asparagus, snow peas, and spinach. While I originally thought I'd use the wok to stir fry all the veggies with some balsamic vinegar, I also wanted to make some polenta. I didn't feel like making it and waiting for it to congeal, so thought I'd bake the veggies with polenta on top.

I made three servings of dinner (about 400 calories)- 3 cups snowpeas, 27 stalks of asparagus, and 5 cups of fresh spinach mixed with balsamic vinegar and pepper (the grocery didn't have sea salt, so now I get to go to the organic grocery and probably snag some more Better than Cream Cheese and other goodies). Meanwhile, I sauteed 6 large gloves of garlic in olive oil spray and added 5.25 cups of water when the garlic browned. On the side I mixed 1.5 cups cornmeal (my weird baking mix) with 1.5 cups cold water. Once it boiled, I added the cornmeal and stirred for 10 minutes or so until creamy. I then poured it on top of the veggies and popped it into the 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

So how was it? I'd say average...It needed something else...probably salt. I'd love to add some mushrooms and maybe veggie broth to it.

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