vegan cooking

So let’s say you’ve got this date. And it’s not just any date - it’s the second or third, maybe even fourth - the “come over to my place and I’ll cook dinner” date. And you really want to impress this hot hunk of opposite sex. What, pray tell, do you do? Well, aside from getting the proper body parts waxed and the proper arrangements with roommates to take a night out, you make a meal that your object of desire can’t resist. Here’s an idea for a pretty simple dish that wins them over every time -I call it Good and Polenta-y because it’s both. You’ll need:

1 package of TJ’s Meatless Meatballs
1 package of TJ’s polenta
2 red bell peppers (TJ’s shortcut: the frozen melange a trois bell peppers work fine too)
1 medium yellow onion
3-4 cloves garlic
italian spices (rosemary, basil, oregano, etc.)
a good heavy handful of fresh basil, rinsed and dried well, then chopped (save a couple leaves for a nice presentation)
extra virgin olive oil
1 can of diced tomatoes (TJ’s shortcut: the Italian Tomato Starter Sauce is a good fit here too)
Tofu ricotta - I used a recipe with extra firm tofu, agave, and lemon juice. There are a lot of those on the web so I’ll just let you use whichever recipe you see fit. Also, pictures of tofu simmering are boring.

Dice half of the onion pretty small and all of the garlic cloves. You’re going to sauté those babies in olive oil on medium heat for a minute and then add the bag of meatballs to brown ‘em up. make sure you add a little salt to get them sweated, and make sure you don’t burn nothin’. I like to throw the meatballs in the microwave for a minute to defrost them before cooking. Anyway, do that.

Chop up the other half of the onion into long lengthwise strips and do the same with the bell peppers. Toss those in a bowl with some olive oil, spices, and maybe a dash of balsamic vinegar and toss it around to get them nice and covered. While you’ve got your knife and board out, slice the polenta into about 1/4-1/2″ slices and set aside.

When you’ve got the meatballs nice and browned with the garlic and onions, add your bell peppers and onions to the mix and continue to cook over medium heat. Give ‘em a good stir every so often to make sure everything gets cooked through. I like to mash up the meatballs if I’m putting it in a casserole dish, but if you want to go for really pretty presentation keep them whole and separate from the bell peppers. This just saves a little skillet real estate.

When things are starting to look close to done, add a can of diced tomatoes. I’ll leave it up to you whether to drain them or not - if you drain them, the meal can be a bit dry, but if you add all the juice, the meatballs get soggy. So it’s up to you. I bet if you use marinara or the tomato starter sauce it’d be just the right consistency. Anyway, add your tomatoes and lube up your skillet with some olive oil and slap those polenta slices (ok, gently place them) down and brown them over medium heat on both sides. Be gentle with them. They’re delicate and fall apart easily. Just like an art major. Heyoo!

Ok, you’re almost done here. When your polenta’s just about finished (you may have to do it in a couple batches depending on pan size, just add fresh olive oil each time), toss the basil on top of the tomato-meatball-bell pepper-onion mix and toss just to incorporate and get it a little softened up. Really show it the what-for.

Oh man, everything’s looking and smelling amazing, huh? Ok, you’re pretty much set here. Now it’s up to proper layering. Think Jenga, only Italian and tasty. I like to put my polenta down as a base and do a layer of meatballs, then a layer of tofu ricotta, then polenta and so on. Top it off with your tofu ricotta and a couple leaves of basil to look nice. This is also great in individual bowls if you want to save some time. I bet if you used soy mozzarella that melted and baked it for a little while it’d stay in whatever shape you cut out, but otherwise this mother falls apart.

But we’re not concerned with that. No sir or madam. Because our date’s here with a winning smile and hungry eyes. And I’m not saying this dish is guaranteed to get you laid, but if it doesn’t help - you have bigger problems.

Enjoy!