Review: cheese polenta with chard, chickpea vegetable salad, may '01

[gertdog]

Made the cheese polenta with chard on Monday night. I was not impressed, which was a bummer since I am so excited about Jeanne Lemlin being the new Inspired Vegetarian columnist!

I used the 2 qt. baking dish, as specified in the recipe, and ended up with *very* thick layers of polenta. There wasn't nearly enough chard to balance the amount of polenta, even though I added some spinach to stretch the amount of filling. I also found that the lf sour cream that gets spread on the chard layer got all grainy and strange after spending time in the oven... it didn't add anything to the recipe.

All in all, my recipe did not look anything like the photo! I had two 3/4" thick layers of polenta with maybe 1/2" of chard sandwiched in between.

The polenta had a very nice flavor, with the goat cheese and parmesan, and I like the idea of the polenta-greens combination. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them!

The chickpea-vegetable salad with curried yogurt dressing was another story... easy, great, and fast! I made the dressing one day in advance, which worked fine. I also made the pita crisps the night before, which was a mistake since they weren't crisp the next day and I had to pop them in the toaster oven to crisp up. But their flavor was quite nice.

The dressing is tasty and pungent. I added a teaspoon of honey to give it a bit of "sweet". I love chickpeas, and this combination of veggies, chickpeas and raisins was great. Used packaged romaine with nice results.

Leftovers are in a pita pocket for lunch today... yum!

[emilycat]

I do this for nearly everything I make, but I would suggest that you just double the amount of chard, and if the polenta layers were too thick for your taste, maybe cut the amount by about a third to begin with. It sounds as if you could tailor it to your preferences pretty easily. I was interested in making this, so I'm glad to hear that it at least has some potential. Thanks for your review! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[phantomcg]

I made the Cheese polenta with Swiss Chard for dinner last night. I really liked it. The leftovers made a wonderful breakfast this morning. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

I only had 1 bunch of swiss chard so I used spinach for the rest and I used aged Asiago in place of the parmesan. I had never made polenta from scratch before (only used the tube stuff) and I was happy with this dish. I did not have a problem with the sour cream getting grainy, although I was a little concerned about that because I only had FF sour cream in the house.

I guess this is just another example of how different people have different tastes.

Cheryl

[KValley]

Baked Cheese Polenta with Swiss Chard was on the menu tonight. I loved it!! It set up very nicely, was creamy, crunchy (the chard ribs), tangy, cheesy. It was a main dish meal and another that I will happily add to my meatless main dish list.

I served it with black beans simmered with garlic, onions and spicy black bean sauce, and a simple salad of greens, avocado, roma tomatoes, red pepper.

Incidentally, last week I made the Curried Chickpea Salad that gertdog mentions in her original post- it is delicious! Even better the next day.

[LGBurns]

I loved the Curried Chickpea Salad from May except for one thing--too salty! The dressing calls for 3/4 tsp of salt, but I would cut it down to 1/4 tsp and then taste. Also I did not add the raisins because DH hates raisins in anything that is not a dessert. (When I told him that it called for raisins but I left them out, he said, "thank god! what is with these people always putting raisins in things?" It was pretty funny.) This is definitely going to be a regular in my summer repertoire. Absolutely no cooking required whatsoever--can't ask for more than that on a 90 degree day like we had yesterday.

[This message has been edited by LGBurns (edited 05-16-2001).]

[KValley]

Originally posted by LGBurns:
I loved the Curried Chickpea Salad from May except for one thing--too salty! The dressing calls for 3/4 tsp of salt, but I would cut it down to 1/4 tsp and then taste. Also I did not add the raisins because DH hates raisins in anything that is not a dessert. (When I told him that it called for raisins but I left them out, he said, "thank god! what is with these people always putting raisins in things?" It was pretty funny.) This is definitely going to be a regular in my summer repertoire. Absolutely no cooking required whatsoever--can't ask for more than that on a 90 degree day like we had yesterday.

[This message has been edited by LGBurns (edited 05-16-2001).]


LOL- LG. Two of my brothers also abhor raisins in anything- they get shivers just thinking about it. Fortunately I inherited Dad's good taste and add raisins whenever I get the chance. I'm making this for a Father's Day BBQ and can't decide who to please. Since it's Dad's day, the raisins will win out, I'm sure http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Oh, how well I know those 90 degree Illinois days (I think I told you I used to live in Champaign-Urbana) and the dreadful humidity.

ALthough, as I sit here in sweats and a wool cardigan, it doesn't sound so bad. It's only supposed to be 65 here today. Sunny and beautiful but a bit chilly for May!

How did finals go? Julie

[LGBurns]

Julie, Oh how I long for beautiful Pacific NW cool spring weather. We already have had to use the air conditioner several times! Finals went very well--in fact, I just got my grades this week and I got straight A's. Very proud. Thanks for asking. How's your husband's job search going?

Back to the salad, maybe you could make half with raisins, half without. I may try adding raisins to my servings next time I make it--I'm curious how they taste.

Linda

[KValley]

http://www.harrythecat.com/graphics/k/balloon1.gif

Linda, Congratulations on your grades! It makes the stress seem worth it somehow, to know that your hard work was recognized.

Aah, the job search continues. The one we really wanted, in Oak Harbor, is still a possibility. Brendan talked with the principal on Monday. He was assured that he is still being considered, but they are waiting from word from the district to know how many History/Social Studies positions they have to fill. Might be 1, might be 2-3. He's applied elsewhere in western WA, but the jobs haven't closed yet.

Funny thing is, the momentum and excitement we felt after the interview 3 weeks ago, when we were ready to pack our bags and go to O.H., has since died down. A few things have happened here in the last week that make us really want to stay- my brother turning down a job in Milwaukee and keeping his family here, DH getting accepted into grad school at the university in town, a school at which he has been subbing consistently all year being very encouraging about an opening and wanting to hire Brendan (although it wouldn't be until next year), falling in love with a house that's just been put on the market...

So, a lot to think about. If DH does go back to school we'd have to put off plans to start a family, which is a disappointment, but we have time.

We've got some wonderful options, but it's a little overwhelming to be in such limbo at the moment. Well, what else is new- my life is one giant limbo dance- always has been !! DH is also going to Europe for 6 weeks this summer (long story), so things will come to a grinding halt if we don't hear about a job before he leaves!

Thank you for asking!

Julie




[This message has been edited by KValley (edited 05-16-2001).]

[karen w]

KValley,

I just made the curried chickpea salad, too. I must vote for putting in the raisins(although, I do love raisins and so does my husband). They did add a nice little bite of sweetness to balance the heat/spice of the curry.(I used part sweet curry and part hot curry powder from Penzey's).

I also recently made the Salmon salad with soy vinaigrette and the soba noodle salad with veggies from the same section. All three salads were delicious and definite repeaters, but my favorite is the chickpea salad!

[KValley]

Originally posted by karen w:
KValley,

I just made the curried chickpea salad, too. I must vote for putting in the raisins(although, I do love raisins and so does my husband). They did add a nice little bite of sweetness to balance the heat/spice of the curry.(I used part sweet curry and part hot curry powder from Penzey's).



karen, i will definitely put raisins in- my brother can just pick them out! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif The curry powder you used sounds so good, I may have to break down and get a Penzey's catalog!

[chefbec]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LGBurns:
I loved the [b]Curried Chickpea Salad from May except for one thing--too salty! The dressing calls for 3/4 tsp of salt, but I would cut it down to 1/4 tsp and then taste.

I made this last night and added 1/4 tsp. salt. I felt it needed more, but I agree that 3/4 may have been too much. We added
s & p to taste later. I also think the raisins are a total plus in this recipe. My husband and I both loved it. I put all the dressing ingredients in the food processor and it was nice and smooth. I served this with some sauteed chicken with jarred mango chutney and fresh cut-up mangoes. The only thing missing was some cilantro as I'd used it all up in the salad recipe! YUM. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[foodiedelite]

I made the Chickpea Vegetable Salad last night and here's another thumbs up!

The flavors were perfect, with the curry and raisin contrast. It didn't seem to salty.

If you have children and/or want to omit raisins perhaps add a little honey to sweeten it up.

Definitely a keeper in our household! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[LGBurns]

There are three possibilities why I found it too salty and others might not:

1) I didn't add raisins (maybe they add enough bulk to the whole salad to counteract the saltiness)

2) My curry powder is saltier than others (since curry is a blend of spices, maybe mine includes salt--don't know because I bought it bulk and don't have the original packaging)

3) I am ultra-picky about salt because as I was growing up my mom was on a restricted salt diet so she never added salt to dishes and told us to salt as we wanted. I ended up learning to really enjoy things without much salt.