Apres Park Polenta

I love the warmer weather and the longer days but they usually mean less time cooking and more time playing. On most days we are out in Hamilton Park from late afternoon until seven and when I get home I have to come up with dinner in under an hour. On some occasions I am organized and I prep dinner pre-park. This past Monday I had only given dinner a passing thought.

On my way home my thoughts turned to other food-blogs for inspiration. Once in my kitchen, I had something new in mind. Inspired by the Head Hen, I invented my own creamy polenta concoction, using instant polenta, an extremely useful and delectable invention.

I enlisted Izzy as my sous-chef. He washed and chopped some broccoli rabe while I chopped garlic, "hen of the woods" mushrooms, shitaakes and parsley. This prep work enabled us to make the following dish:

Broccoli Rabe with Creamy Mushroom Polenta

Ingredients

(For broccoli rabe)
1 bunch broccoli rabe, cut and boiled about 5 minutes or until just tender
4 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil

1. Saute garlic in oil on low heat for a minute or 2..
2. Add broccoli rabe and stir.


(For Polenta)

1 cup or so of mushrooms (hen of the woods or other), cleaned and chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley

1.Saute garlic a minute or two on low heat.
2. Add mushrooms and cook about 5-10 minutes
3. Stir in parsley and set aside.

1 cup polenta
3 cups of water
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.Bring water and salt to boil, add polenta and stir continually about 5 minutes.
2. Add milk and continue stirring until creamy.
3. Remove from heat and stir in cheese and mushrooms.
4. Serve with broccoli rabe.

Makes 3 large servings. Perfect with a salad on the side.







l