I made this for dinner the other night and it was SO good! Yum! I’ve actually made this recipe several times. It’s quick and easy to make. Don’t let the fancy name fool you.

This recipe comes from Epicurious and was in Gourmet Magazine. So I can’t say if it’s healthy or not. I’ll share my healthy options below. If you try it let me know what you think!

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds precooked polenta (in a tube), cut into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) rounds
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 pound mixed sliced fresh wild mushrooms
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups bottled marinara sauce

Accompaniment: grated Parmesan

Preheat broiler.

Broil polenta rounds on a lightly oiled large heavy baking sheet 3 to 4 inches from heat until lightly browned in spots, about 7 minutes. Turn rounds over and sprinkle with cheese, then broil until polenta is golden in spots and cheese is melted, about 7 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat until it shimmers, then cook sausage, breaking up lumps, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Heat remaining tablespoon oil in skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add wine and boil, scraping up any brown bits, until reduced by about half, about 2 minutes. Stir in sausage and tomato sauce and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Season with salt.

Serve ragout spooned over polenta.

My Healthy Version: I use sweet Turkey sausage and omit the Parmesan cheese. When cutting the polenta I just cut the whole tube into 1/2″ slices and I’ll brush olive oil on one side when broiling.

I wanted to tell you about a couple cooking blogs that I read regularly. I’ve had a lot of fun finding new recipes from them and learing more about cooking. So instead of a recipe, here’s a couple blogs you should check out:

Fulltummies - written by 2 sisters who are the mothers of young children they have a lot of “family friendly and not very complicated foods.” A personal favorite, their Compromise Cookies.

Simply Recipes - great pictures, good foods, I’m looking forward to trying her Chicken Curry Salad.

Smitten kitchen - pictures during the cooking process, delicious food, decadent desserts.  A favorite that I made for small group: Brownie Mosiac Cheesecake

This is one of our favorite recipes AND it is so easy and super yummy!

Steel Cut Oats or Scottish Oats or Irish Oats- These are groats which have been cut into two or three pieces.

I buy my Steel Cut Oat Groats from Whole Foods in the bulk food section. I’m pretty sure Publix carries them too.

(serves 4-6)

3C Steel Cut Oat Groats (soaked overnight)
1/3C Pure Organic Maple Syrup (not maple flavored syrup - available at Target, Publix and Whole Foods)
1T Cinnamon
1/2 Salt
1C Raisins
1t Vanilla

Drain the water from the oats.
In a food processor, combine all ingredients and process. Adjust syrup, cinnamon or raisins to taste.

For different variation add any of the following cored apple with skin, strawberries, or other favorite fruit.

Will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several days.

Wow, have there been a lot of babies born in the last couple months!!! Congrats to all the new moms out there! This Chicken Curry is the dish I often take to new moms (or others that I might take a meal to.) It’s easy, freezes well, and tastes yummy. My kids love it, and ask for it at least once a week (don’t worry, we don’t have it that often.)

Chicken Curry - from Rinnie Hersman
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
10.5 oz can cream of celery (or mushroom) soup
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup milk
3 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon powder
1/2 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp melted butter

Mix all ingredients but bread crumbs and butter in a baking dish (8×8 pan or 2 quart pyrex dish.) Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Put topping (bread crumbs plus butter mixed together) on the last 10 minutes of cooking. Serve over rice.

May also put cooked rice in bottom of dish, and then put sauce and chicken on top and bake like that. Alternately, you can put in raw chicken, but should cook it for an extra 15 or so minutes.

I was recently checking Sarah’s blog, and asked her if I could post this recipe from it. It sounds delicous.

“I’ll share my latest bean adventure which came thanks to a last minute dinner date with a vegetarian friend of mine. In the midst of the last-week-of-school craziness, we crashed at my apartment for a brief respite from the mounds of projects, tests, and papers. We created this recipe by modifying my mom’s recipe for chicken in a spicy black bean, tomato, and corn concoction. I love the sauce part more than the chicken, so I thought it would fly solo as a delicious dish. I tweaked some of the measurements, added fresh garlic, and we topped it with shredded cheese for a little extra protein.

Fiesta Black Bean Skillet

1 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can black beans (drain for a thicker consistency)
1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain!)
1 small can mexicorn
1/4 c. cilantro
3-4 garlic cloves, finely diced
3/4 t. chili powder
2. c. dry rice
8 oz. shredded chedder cheese

In large skillet, heat oil and add onions and garlic. Cook at medium temperature until slightly soft (just a couple minutes). Add corns, beans, tomatoes, and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Turn down heat and simmer 5 minutes. Serve over rice, top with shredded cheese.
*note: Always use the juice in the tomatoes. You can drain or not drain but the black beans, depending on how thick you want it.

Though we ate the beans over rice for dinner, I ate the leftovers in multiple ways - as a salad-topper with lettuce, as a dip dumped over tortilla chips with a dollop of plain yogurt, and as a soup (simply add a little water and some more chili powder). Next time, I’ll try to have some avacodo on hand.”