Polenta Bowls with Peppery Veggie Saute

When someone finds out I eat a vegan diet, the first question is almost always, "what do you eat?". It is either asked in a genuine, truth-seeking tone, or one of complete shock that implies that surely I cannot survive without meat let alone all other animal products. It's rather comical but I am always willing to have a discussion about what I eat and especially ready to address the most common concerns about protein sources, etc. etc. If the person who asked the question is willing to stand there long enough, I'm relatively certain I could talk their ear off. In case you have not figured it out already, food is totally my jam!

Since some of you reading this might actually be wondering what I eat on a regular basis, or perhaps are looking for vegan/gluten free meal ideas, I've decided to share more of my own everyday meals with you here. Meal planning used to be a bit difficult for me at first before I settled into a comfortable pattern. When I was still eating a mostly vegetarian diet, I came up with a sort of formula for most of my weeknight meals that looked like this:

cooked grains or pasta + tons of seasonal/fresh veggies + nuts, seeds, and/or herbs = dinner

See, it's pretty simple, right? Or at least it seems simple to me, now. The combinations are endless and ever-changing depending on the season and what produce is available. Every single one of my meals doesn't necessarily follow this exact formula, but the majority do. Like the one I'm going to share with you here: a simple bowl of creamy polenta paired with a peppery vegetable saute. It makes for a relatively easy dinner and tastes like comfort in a bowl.

I chose to be a bit heavy handed with the fresh cracked pepper in the veggie saute because I wanted to create a nice contrast with the creamy polenta. The saute is made up of lacinato kale, broccolini, mushrooms, garlic, shallot, and walnuts. I love combining mushrooms and walnuts because they provide a sort of unctuous quality to any dish they are in, plus the flavor and texture combo is awesome in my humble opinion. If you can't find broccolini, sub in some broccoli instead. Or, double up on the kale. You can't really go wrong :)

Polenta Bowls with Peppery Veggie Saute 

for the polenta
1 quart vegan veggie stock
2 good pinches herbes de provence or fresh thyme
salt & pepper as needed
1 1/4 cups dried polenta
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)

Combine the stock and herbes de provence in a stock pot. Bring the stock to a boil, then whisk in the polenta. Lower the heat to a simmer, whisking the polenta constantly for 3 to 5 minutes until it is thick and creamy. Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper. When it is ready, remove it from the heat and stir in the nutritional yeast if using.

for the peppery veggie saute
1 shallot or 1/2 of a small onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
a large handful of walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
8 ounces of cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch broccolini, ends trimmed
1 bunch of lacinato (Tuscan) kale, de-ribbed and roughly chopped
salt to taste
a good dose of fresh cracked pepper
scant tbsp olive oil or coconut oil

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the shallots just start to soften. Season the shallot mixture with a bit of salt and pepper. Add the walnuts and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until they just barely start turning golden. Add the thyme, mushrooms, and broccolini and cook until the broccolini starts to turn bright green. Add the kale last and cook until it just starts to wilt. Taste the veggies, then season with more salt if needed and an ample amount of fresh cracked pepper.

To assemble, place a good bit of the polenta in the bottom of a bowl, then top it with a mound of the veggie saute. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!