Polenta part II

Last nights ..relics..  can often be repurposed into tonight’s dinner and you would never realize. It is all in the application. Tonight we are going to use the rest of the polenta in two ways, a ‘baby chopped’ salad and ‘polenta dippers’.

The salad is super easy, just be sure to make enough for yourself as well as baby. You can pick and choose what you want in this salad. This is just what I know Olive likes and I happened to have on hand.

Take your polenta out and cut half of it into ½ inch cubes. To do this you can use a knife but a pizza cutter is easiest. Pop the little cubes on a parchment covered cookie sheet and into a 400 oven until they are golden brown on the outsides, you want a crust to form (about 30 min depending how many your baking).  When the cubes are done remove them from the oven and let cool at least ¾ of the way.

Halve some grape tomatoes and rinse a can of garbanzo beans. If you have some broccoli stalks at hand cube them the same size as the polenta, steam them until tender and let cool.

When everything is cut and cooled, toss them all together in a bowl with some vinaigrette and enjoy!

With the second half of your polenta cut them into about 2-3 inch bars. Bake or pan-fry them until they have a crust on the outside and set aside.

You can make just about any sauce to dip these polenta nuggets in. I chose romesco and sorry to say I can’t give that recipe out.. LAME I know, you will get over it. In the meantime there are plenty of recipes for romesco online I am sure but you can also consider a red pasta sauce or a flavored hummus etc. 

If you choose a marinara you can add a little cheese to the polenta to make a healthier version of mozzarella sticks, because seriously, who needs that much cheese…

This is the base for my romesco to give you some ideas. Such a tease!

 The reason I chose this sauce over others is because I also made fish for some company consisting of grownups. You can put romesco on virtually any meat. I even use it as a dip for veggies. 

These nuggets can also be supped up for older kids, add flavors to the polenta while it is cooking. There is a vegan 'chicken' stock sold in some stores in powder form, if you add a small amount of that to the polenta you just made your own fake chicken nuggets. it is really salty so use sparingly. Add curry powder or pesto, the list goes on. The most important thing is you get creative, surprise yourself!