Soft Polenta with Mushrooms and Spinach

I'm on a mushroom kick right now.

A mushroom walks into a bar.
The bartender says, "We don't serve mushrooms."
The mushroom says "But I'm a fun guy!"
buh-dum-dum

I love those little fun-guys with all my heart. (-:

This is another easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy recipe. Freals. [Yes, I'm trying to make "freals" happen.]

The ingredients:

Polenta: I could only find instant, so that's what I used. It's a 4:1::water:polenta ratio. If you understand that, you are my people. If you've never had polenta, think of cornbread without the bread or grits with an Italian name. The latter is probably more accurate, at least according to Mario Batali on The Chew. Hank and I watch The Chew every day from 1:00-1:30. Yes, we only watch half so I can get to work in time. (-:

Besides the polenta, you'll need spinach, mushrooms, garlic, onion and feta. Not pictured: olive oil. You should just let this sit by your stove because you can't go wrong with olive oil.

Prep, prep, prep: my 'shrooms came pre-washed/pre-sliced; I diced my onion; I took the stems off my spinach because I'm picky like that [remember your spinach will shrink dramatically, so load up!]; and then I got to cooking.

This is a two pan meal. Follow the directions on your package of polenta. They're usually the same in my experience. First grab a pot to boil water in, I made one [large] serving of polenta. Put one cup of water in your pot and bring to a boil. Once the water boils: remove from the heat, add salt to taste and then while you're constantly whisking add 1/4 cup of polenta slowly. Keep stirring! It will thicken. You must stir so it doesn't get lumpy!

[not pictured: boiling pot of water, you can visualize this]

While you're water's heating up...

In a small skillet heat your olive oil. Add the onions [I will admit to cooking my onions to death because I only like them COMPLETELY COOKED], once the onions are soft add the garlic and the mushrooms. Cook until your mushrooms are as cooked as you like them, for me it's a little wilty but still with some texture. Last add your spinach and season with a little salt and pepper.

If you're feeling frisky, you can put a splash [1-2 tablespoons] of sherry or balsamic vinegar once the spinach is almost done.

Once all of the spinach ingredients are in the pan, I turn off the heat and finish the polenta. The residual heat will finish the spinach.

Put the polenta in a bowl, add the spinach and mushrooms and top with a [hearty] sprinkle of feta. If you need some red color in there, I think a small layer of marinara [straight from the jar in my neck of the woods] under the spinach and mushrooms would be divine.

Soft Polenta with Mushrooms and Spinach
based on a recipe from Real Simple that I'm remembering from a few years ago

-Polenta
Follow the directions on the package for preparation, with mine I used 1 cup of water to 1/4 cup polenta.

-1 small Onion, diced
-1 clove Garlic, minced
-1 cup Mushrooms, sliced
-1-2 cups raw Spinach, stems removed
-Feta
In a small skillet [or a large skillet for more servings], saute your onion in olive oil. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are browned slightly. Place the spinach in your pan and stir. The spinach will wilt quickly, remove the pan from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the polenta in your bowl, top with mushrooms and spinach and feta.

Enjoy!

Fish Foil Packs

It's about 8pm**. I'm hungry. Because I'm hungry, I'm also grouchy. I also haven't been to the grocery store in at least a week. Because I'm lazy.

I'm lazy because I don't want to go to Aldi or Kroger. I don't want to go to Aldi or Kroger because I don't want to have to make decisions. I don't want to make decisions because deciding is hard. (-:

WHAT AM I GOING TO MAKE? A freezer meal. No, not that kind of frozen dinner, but a meal I'm going to put together from things in my freezer and pantry.

These kinds of frozen things: fish and asparagus.

The lemon was on it's last day of being acceptable for eating in my fridge. Preparation at it's best. [I'm being sarcastic, in case you didn't know.]

Everything is getting thrown into a foil pack. I started eating foil packs as a kid when we went camping. We took a hamburger patty, sliced potatoes, carrots, onions and s&p and wrapped it in foil, wrote our names on the side with a sharpie and threw those babies on the coals of the fire.

I don't have a fire.
I don't want any hamburger.
I'm not worried about not getting my sharpie-labeled pack.

I'm making my version of the foil pack, wrapping my goodies with two sheets of foil, baking at 350 for about 30 minutes and feeling less grouchy at the end of that time when the food is in my belly.

If you don't have lemons, try limes. No limes? maybe a little vinegar? If you don't have fish, try a boneless-chicken breast. If you don't have frozen asparagus, try broccoli.

WHAT I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU HERE IS THAT YOU CAN'T SCREW THIS UP. The foil is going to trap all the goodness inside and give you some moist, delicious meat and veggies no matter what. Cooking in my life is all about putting food you love [and keep on hand] together to make a meal. I'm all about making that meal as easily as possible. I like fish, I like asparagus, I like them both with a little lemon goodness and I happened to have all three of those items in my little apartment. That makes me think I can make this quickly and easily.

Hank approves.

My Freezer Fish Foil Packs

• One fish fillet
• Frozen asparagus
• Olive oil
• Seasonings
• Lemon, sliced thinly

Pull out two sheets of foil and place on a flat surface. In the center of the foil place the asparagus, season lightly with salt and one layer of lemon [approximately 2-3 slices], place your fish on top of the asparagus. On the fish give a light splash of olive oil and season with your favorite fish seasonings, salt and pepper. Top everything with another layer of lemons, wrap it all up tightly making sure you pull the ends up so there's not too much leaking. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.



**Technically I didn't cook this at 8pm because I wanted to cook it when I had good light for pictures. I don't want you to look at my pictures and think "that amy SITS ON A THRONE OF LIES!" I would make this [and have] at 8pm when I am hungry and grouchy and lazy and tired.

What are foods you love, but you're not sure how to put together in a meal?

Quickie

cottage cheese+halved grape tomatoes+diced avocados

= GOOD STUFF

I think cottage cheese and avocados might be the best combo since peanut butter and chocolate. I really love pb and chocolate too, so that's saying a lot about cottage cheese and avocado. I wouldn't have put them together, but then I saw someone had posted a picture of cottage cheese and avocado on Instagram/Pinterest/another blog/somewhere and was inspired.

My $0.49 Aldi avocados were perfectly ripe and ready for eatin', my cottage cheese was just hanging out and my grape tomatoes were on the verge of being good. A little salt, a little pepper and your choice of something crunchy [I'm a fan of pita chips], stir to combine and chow down. 

That's a 5-minute lunch or afternoon snack in my little apartment.