Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Polenta with braised greens, tofu, and cashews

This is another really easy vegan recipe that I got from Andrea's Easy Vegan Cooking, and tweaked only slightly. This was my first time making polenta and aside from forgetting to grease the pan I made it in, it turned out delicious and couldn't have been easier to make. Homemade polenta is very different in texture from the store bought kind that comes in a tube. Homemade polenta in texture was more like fluffy grits. Very yummy, and I think it would make a great base for just about anything.


Ingredients
-1/2 large bag chopped mustard greens (I think about 1/2 a pound; you could also use kale)
-1 package extra firm tofu, cubed and drained (I recommend wrapping in a towel and then placing something heavy on top of the towel for about 30 minutes to really drain the tofu)
-1 T tamari
-2 T EVOO
-1/4 C cashews
-1/4 C raisins
-1/2 C sliced mushrooms
-2 carrots, grated/shredded
-1/2 tsp sugar
-2 T balsamic vinegar
-pepper
-1/3 C bread crumbs

Polenta
-1 C course grind cornmeal (I couldn't find course grind, but used fine as it was labeled for making polenta)
-3 1/2 C water
-3/4 tsp salt
-1 T nutritional yeast flakes (can be bought at any co-op, probably in bulk)

Steps
(Preheat oven to 350)
1. Make polenta by mixing all polenta ingredients in a large oven proof dish (e.g., casserole dish).
2. Bake polenta for 40 minutes.
3. After 40 minutes, stir and bake for 10 more minutes.
4. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
5. While polenta is baking, drizzle 1 T tamari over tofu cubes in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes.
6. Heat wok or large skillet on medium-hot; once skillet is hot add 1 T EVOO. Add tofu and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring often, until tofu is browned.
7. Turn heat down to medium-low, and add mushrooms, cashews, bread crumbs and saute until all are lightly browned.

8. Stir in raisins, remove mixture from pan and set aside.
9. Turn heat back up to medium-hot, add one more T of EVOO and saute shredded carrots
10. Add chopped greens, stir to mix, then cover and cook for about 3 minutes until greens are a bright green color.

11. Reduce heat to medium-low, and sir in sugar and vinegar, and add some fresh pepper.
12. Add the tofu mixture.

12. Pour greens/tofu mixture over polenta.

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