Polenta with Mushroom Sauce and Sauteed Spinach

Hello everyone.  Today is the first chance I've had since beginning my job earlier this year running a food truck to sit down and open my blog back up.  I admittedly haven't been doing as much cooking or baking outside of my two jobs in the past several months, simply because I haven't had a lot of time.  Hubbs is also working two jobs, so it's been ok - we've both been crazy busy.  I think it's safe to say that the summer season has come to an end in Traverse City - I am seeing a lot less tourists, and business has slowed down considerably.  But that's ok.  Everyone has been running nonstop since the season began, and it is a nice break.  I have a lot of things coming up to work on relating to the vegan cafe hubbs and I are going to open, so we will definitely be staying busy!  Hopefully I will have time here and there to do a few blog posts and put a couple recipes up.  Until then, enjoy this tasty recipe I made a few weeks ago with the over-abundance of organic spinach I had in our garden.  

Grilled Polenta with a Mushroom Sauce and Sauteed Spinach with Pinenuts

Seriously so delicious!

Polenta:
4 cups filtered water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons earth balance

Place all ingredients in a medium sized pot and whisk together well.  Cook over medium heat till thickened, stirring frequently.  Pour into an oiled pan and refrigerate until set up (several hours).

Once the polenta has set up, slice it into pieces and either pan fry or grill (I used our panini grill).

Mushroom Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
 4 tablespoons white wine
3 tablespoons tamari
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups filtered water mixed with 3 tablespoons arrowroot

Place the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and mushrooms and saute till softened.  Deglaze the pan with the white wine - be sure to scrape up all the tasty little bits that have stuck to the pan.  Add the remaining ingredients and cook till well seasoned and thickened.

Sauteed Spinach:
1/2 cup pinenuts, toasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
8-10 cups baby spinach
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons white wine

In a separate large saute pan, add the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and cook till fragrant, but not browned.  Add the baby spinach and white wine, allowing it to wilt.  Once the spinach begins to wilt, add the sea salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.  Right before serving add the pinenuts.


Enjoy!

Koko