Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Over Polenta Cakes with Goat Cheese

This recipe was inspired by the amazing F&W recipe found here: Crisp Polenta with Cherry Tomatoes

My version isn't quite as "fancy," and definitely more of a quick, what do I have for dinner (?) version.

I had a tube (for lack of a better term) of pre-cooked polenta in my pantry, as well as goat cheese in the fridge, olive oil, salt, and some herbs. The tomatoes arrived in our produce box on the exact day that our friends had brought us a colander full.

Ingredients:

• "Tube" of pre-cooked polenta, usually found in the pasta section of a grocery store
• basket/2 cups of cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
• fresh thyme sprigs
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Toss tomatoes with approximately 2 TB of olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper, and fresh thyme. If you do not have fresh thyme, you may use dried thyme, though the original recipe calls for you to remove the thyme after baking. Spread tomatoes on parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Bake tomatoes for 20 minutes or so, until some start to burst.
4. Meanwhile, slice polenta into 1/2 inch-3/4 inch slices. 
5. In a small frying pan, heat 1 TB olive oil over medium/high heat. Heat polenta slices for approximately ten minutes total. Add olive oil if needed, but not more than 3 TB total.
6. Assemble: Place one polenta disc on a plate. Top with approximately 1 TB of goat cheese and a couple spoonfuls of the tomatoes. 

Enjoy!

Blood Orange Grilled Shrimp

As you may notice based on this post and my last post, I have recently used some infused olive oils in my cooking. I have received both lemon olive oil and blood orange olive oil as gifts, and LOVE cooking with them. This shrimp dish was quick and full of flavor, thanks to both the olive oil and fresh grilled citrus.

Ingredients:

• fresh peeled, deveined shrimp (I used 20 to serve 5 people)
• approximately 1/2 cup blood orange olive oil
• handful of fresh parsley
• 2 blood oranges
• salt and pepper to taste
• bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 min.

Directions:

1.  Thread four shrimp onto each bamboo skewer.
2.  Season shrimp with salt and pepper, then coat with blood orange olive oil. Let shrimp marinate for 15 minutes.
3.  Slice blood oranges in half. Chop parsley.
4. Heat BBQ/grill to medium heat. Place blood oranges on the grill to get a good char.
5. After grilling the oranges for 3-4 minutes, add shrimp skewers. Cook 2-3 minutes total, turning once, until shrimp are done (pinkish on the outside, opaque on the inside).
6. Remove shrimp and blood oranges from grill. Squeeze the juice from the charred blood oranges over the shrimp and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Grilled Zucchini Salad

 

Ingredients:

• 4-6 medium zucchini
• 1/4 cup feta cheese
• 2 TB fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted (I do this in a small pan, you could also bake them)
• lemon infused olive oil, or regular olive oil and juice from 1/2 lemon
• white balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Slice zucchini in 1/4 inch slices. Toss with 1-2 TB olive oil (lemon if you have it), salt and pepper.
2. Saute zucchini over medium heat until just tender, approximately 5 minutes.
3. Allow zucchini to cool to room temperature. Toss with approximately 2 TB of white balsamic, and another 1 TB of the lemon olive oil (or regular olive oil, with the juice of 1 lemon).
4. Add pine nuts and feta cheese, toss, and add salt and pepper to taste (should not need much if seasoned before cooking). Finish with fresh mint.

Enjoy!