Cheddar Polenta with Roasted Veggies
- Oct 10, 2017
- 3 min read
In anticipation of autumn – back in August when it was still too hot, honestly not so different from today – I planned out a few seasonal recipes that I could try this year. This was one, and I've been excitedly waiting to try it for a few weeks now. The plan was to hold off until the fall weather kicked in, but to be honest, at this point I don't know when it will be here to stay. So I just went for it this week! It's almost mid-October already, and a girl only has so much time to do her fall cooking.
I was originally planning to make this recipe with roasted broccoli and sweet potato, but this past weekend when I came across some acorn squash at the farm stand, I knew I wanted to give it a try instead! Plus, my lone sweet potato shriveled up before I managed to use it. Oops.
I'd never cooked with acorn squash before, and this seemed like the perfect recipe to try it in. Squash in general screams "fall" to me. And it was definitely delicious, but similar to other squash I've tried to make submit to my will, it is hard to cut. When and if you try cooking with squash, please use a good knife, and be super careful. They get slippery and the knife gets stuck, and it can end badly oh-so-easily!
Safety tips aside, let me tell you how incredible cheddar polenta is. Especially with some black pepper to give it a kick, it was the perfect base for roasted veggies. It was cheesy enough to go perfectly with the broccoli, but still mild and creamy enough to go well with the slightly sweeter squash. And the polenta itself is always so easy to make, it would be a great quick meal in a pinch with just some steamed veggies instead of roasted ones! (Or, let's be real, no veggies at all, because sometimes we just need the comfort food without the vitamins and minerals...or we're just feeling a bit lazy.)
If you do have the time, though, I definitely recommend keeping this meal rounded out with roasted vegetables. If you want to go for a fall feel, broccoli, brussels sprouts, sweet potato, and any kind of squash would be perfect in any combination. I tried to go a bit more savory with my roasted vegetables this time around, but the sweeter option is a good one too – next time I do this, I might do some brown sugar sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts! Whatever your tastes, as long as you like cheese, there's a way to make this dish work.
CHEDDAR POLENTA WITH ROASTED SQUASH AND BROCCOLI
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 acorn squash
1/2 - 1 bag frozen broccoli*
2 T olive oil
1/4 t onion powder
1 t Italian spices
1/2 cup instant polenta
2-3 oz sharp cheddar, cubed small or grated
salt
pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Wash and slice the acorn squash (carefully!) into about 1/2-inch slices, and rinse the frozen broccoli if it has ice crystals all over the florets. Lay the squash and broccoli out on a baking sheet in a single layer, then toss in olive oil, and sprinkle with onion powder, Italian spices, and salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes.
While the veggies are roasting, on the stovetop, bring two cups of water to a boil in a medium pot. Then turn down to medium heat, and add the instant polenta while stirring constantly. Sprinkle in a little salt (keeping in mind that we'll also be adding cheese, which is salty too). Let cook for a few minutes on medium heat, stirring for the most part, until the polenta starts to pull away from the wall of the pot. Then take off the heat and add in your cheese, plus some black pepper to taste, stirring until the cheese melts.
When the veggies are done roasting, sprinkle with more salt again. Plate your polenta, and the veggies can either be placed as a side, or right on top. Top with a little more black pepper, and enjoy!
*I use frozen broccoli because the amount of time it takes to roast works a little better with the timing of the squash, and I can do it all on one pan this way!
Happy Eating,
Natalie
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