Ratatouille on Broiled Polenta With Baby Greens

By sunitagt

Calories: 423
Carbohydrates: 72.9 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Fat: 12.5 g
Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
Fiber: 19.1 g
Sodium: 31 mg
Protein: 10.6 g

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped (or two mediums)
• 4 Japanese eggplants, cut into cubes (or 2 globe eggplants)
• 2 heaping cups Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large bell pepper, any color, cored, seeded, chopped
• 1 14-oz can fire roasted tomatoes (I chose Muir Glen with green chiles for extra heat)
• 1/2 cup light broth
• 1/2 cup green or black olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1-2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1-2 teaspoons dried Italian herbs (marjoram, thyme, oregano, rosemary)
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1 cup polenta
• 4 1/2 cups light broth
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• A bag of crisp baby greens
• Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Optional garnish: crumbles of goat cheese

Details

Servings 5
Adapted from webmd.com

Preparation

Step 1

To make the ratatouille

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large oven-proof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the garlic and onion; stir and cook for five minutes. Add the eggplant, mushrooms and pepper; stir and cook for five minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, olives, balsamic vinegar, parsley, herbs, sea salt and ground pepper. Stir to combine. Bring to a high simmer.

Set the skillet in the oven and roast the veggies for about 30 minutes, until the veggies are very tender. Stir half way through.

In the meantime, prepare your polenta.

Note: If using a roll of polenta, slice the roll into 1/2 inch slices and place in a broiler pan. Brush with olive oil and season with sea salt and ground pepper. Place the pan into the oven and set the temperature to broil; broil until sizzling and slightly browned.

To make the polenta

1 cup polenta
4 1/2 cups light broth
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, bring the broth to a high simmer and pour the cornmeal into the simmering broth in an even, steady stream, whisking as you go. Keep stirring. When the polenta has thickened and is pulling away from the sides of the pot a bit, add in herbs or shredded cheese and season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. This takes about 20 minutes, or so. Remove the pot from the heat.

If you make your polenta ahead of time, you have the option of spooning it evenly into a pie plate or cake pan and letting it cool. This makes a firm polenta you can later slice into wedges and broil (see instructions above for preparing the rolled polenta).

To serve the ratatouille and polenta

Arrange baby greens on four plates. Drizzle with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season the greens with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Add polenta in the center. Top with the ratatouille.