Cheesy Polenta Stuffed Peppers (and Babcock Wine!)

This is one of Joe's favorite meals that I make for us.  Joe actually found the polenta recipe while watching the Food Network one day, and I decided to stuff it into peppers to make it more of a complete meal.  Making polenta is a lot easier than I thought it would be...and it's delicious!

Joe and I love spending time together by cooking together. We usually trade off where Joe sits at the bar in our kitchen while I cook, and vice versa. We both enjoy conversation and drinking wine while we cook! 

This Identity Crisis Syrah is our favorite!!

Oh, Joe!

Living in wine country has definitely increased our love and knowledge of wine. We recently became wine club members at Babcock, which is our favorite local vineyard/winery that we’ve found so far.  Aside from their wonderful wine, we love the employees and the whole feel of the place. We've spent many Saturdays wine tasting and walking around their vineyard. 

Walking around Babcock Vineyards (Lompoc, CA)

Okay, back to the polenta recipe!!

Cheesy Polenta Stuffed Peppers (serves 4-8 people)

(Polenta recipe modified from Food Network) 

2Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Medium Red Onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 qt chicken stock or broth
1 cup COURSE ground cornmeal (regular cornmeal works, but I've found the best results with coarser ground)
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp kosher salt
Ground black pepper to taste
¼ C grated Parmesan cheese + extra for top of peppers
4 Green Bell Peppers, halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In large oven safe saucepan, heat olive oil and add red onion. Cook until onions begin to turn translucent (4-5 mins)

Reduce heat to low, add garlic and cook mixture for another 1-2 mins

Turn heat up to high and add chicken stock/broth. Bring to boil and then add the corn meal gradually- stirring to make sure clumps do not form.

Once all corn meal mixed in, put top on the saucepan and place in oven for 30-40 mins. Set timer every 10 mins to stir mixture to prevent any lumps from forming. 

MAKE SURE YOU USE OVEN MITTS TO GRAB SAUCEPAN WHEN YOU STIR! I’ve burnt myself many times not thinking and forgetting how hot it is ;-) 

Once polenta is done cooking in oven, keep oven on, remove polenta and set aside. Re-heat to 400 degrees.

While the oven is heating up, combine the butter, salt, pepper and parmesan into the polenta.

Spoon polenta into the halved peppers. Sprinkle with parmesan.

Put peppers onto foil lined cookie sheet and cook in oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

The stuffed peppers are usually just enough for us to eat with a salad, but it can be served on the side of a main dish as well!

Enjoy!

Baked (or Grilled) Balsamic Marinated Tofu

Okay... I'm on a bit of a tofu kick, but I just like to experiment with healthy foods that are high in protein and low in fat. I love balsamic vinegar on almost everything, so I wanted to try it with tofu! 

This easy marinade I came up with gives the tofu great flavor for those who may not like tofu all that well.

Balsamic Marinated Tofu 
(makes 18-20 slices)

2- 12 oz packages of firm or extra firm tofu, drained

1 C Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tbsp Olive oil

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp dried oregano

1tsp dried basil

2 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced & halved

Prep Tofu for Marinade:
(get most of the water out so the marinade can soak in properly)

Take tofu out of wrapping and drain out the water.  Wrap tofu snugly in 4 or 5 layers of paper towels and arrange on a plate.

Cover with a second plate and balance a heavy can or two on top to weigh down the plate and press down on the tofu. Set aside to let drain for 30 minutes.

Remove and discard paper towels and if desired, you can repeat this process again. (I didn’t feel like taking the time to wait an hour for it to drain, so I only let it drain once for about 10 minutes.)

**The more water you drain out of the tofu, the better the marinade soaks up into it and the crispier the tofu will be once cooked

While draining tofu, combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Whisk with fork until all combined.

Slice up tomatoes and set aside

Now that tofu is done draining, cut into ¼” – ½” slices and place side by side in an 11x13 baking dish. Place the tomato slices on top and pour marinade over tofu and tomatoes. (This mixture should cover the tofu)

Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in refrigerator for at least one hour (I did four hours. You can even marinate overnight)

 

 Baking Tofu: 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Line a baking sheet with tin foil & spray lightly with cooking spray.

Take tofu out of refrigerator and place onto the baking sheet.  Arrange tomato slices on top of tofu.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes until tofu is golden brown and crisp**

This smells SO delicious while baking!!

**We also love to grill our tofu—if you do this, just make sure you get extra firm tofu and brush enough olive oil onto the grill to cover your entire cooking surface!

I served our tofu with couscous and salad! Yummy!

Tofu Cheesecake?!

When I first got this recipe from my mother in law, I thought to myself, "WHAT? Tofu cheesecake?? That CANNOT taste good!"

Well, I was wrong! This recipe is definitely worth a try.  Especially if you're like me and need a diet higher in protein to help sustain energy without eating a ton of unhealthy "filler" foods. This tofu cheesecake is very healthy and great "brain power" food. Joe and I both love eating this for breakfast.

For 1 slice (1/8) of cheesecake, I calculated a total of 12g protein and 5g fat.

Ingredients!

Tofu Cheesecake

 Combine all in a food processor:

1C firm tofu

1C low fat cottage cheese

1C Vanilla yogurt (I used Greek yogurt for 22g of protein per cup rather than only 6g with regular yogurt)

3/4C Sugar

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla

Blend until very creamy. Pour into one large or two small vanilla wafer or graham cracker crusts (or even gluten free pie crust if you are on a gluten-free diet. There are many recipes for gluten free pie crusts on the internet)

Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes (until knife comes out clean in center and cheesecake has light golden brown color)

Chill thoroughly. Top with fresh strawberries or your favorite fruit.