Meatless Monday with White Cheddar Polenta, Sauteed Greens and Garlic-Roasted Portobello Mushrooms

As a green call centre, we support the Meatless Monday movement which promotes reducing meat consumption to improve personal and planetary health. Every Monday we bring a new vegetarian recipe to make that goal a little more attainable.

This week we have a recipe for White Cheddar Polenta with Sauteed Greens and Garlic-Roasted Portobello Mushrooms. Growing up, my best friend Anna was Northern Italian so I learned to appreciate polenta at an early age and that has only increased with age. Polenta is so easy to make, versatile, healthy and delicious.  It does require a little whisking and caution should be taken while its cooking as polenta splatters can be painful but well worth it.

This satisfying meal is perfect for a cold winter night and comes courtesy of Epicurious.

Ingredients
• 3 medium portobello mushrooms
• 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal) or yellow cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 1 cup (packed) grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
• 1 large bunch Swiss chard, ribs cut away, leaves cut in 3×1-inch strips
• 1 10-ounce bag fresh spinach leaves

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F and oil an 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Remove stems from mushrooms and chop finely; place in prepared baking dish. Using small spoon, scrape away dark gills from underside of mushrooms and discard. Cut each mushroom cap into 8 wedges; add to baking dish with chopped mushroom stems. Drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with 1 minced garlic clove, parsley, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Bake until tender, 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine 4 cups water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Gradually whisk in polenta. Reduce heat to low. Cook until polenta thickens and begins to pull away from sides of pan, whisking often, about 25 minutes for polenta or 15 minutes for yellow cornmeal. Whisk in butter, then cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and sauté 30 seconds. Add Swiss chard and spinach and sauté until tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon polenta onto plates. Top with greens and portobello mushrooms.

This recipe yields four portions but can easily be adjusted for more or fewer people. If you appreciate spicy foods, feel free to add chili flakes to your palate to the mushrooms, greens or polenta while cooking.  I added a little to both the polenta and greens and it worked out well.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday site to learn more. Join the movement and promote going Meatless on Mondays to co-workers and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop or salon even greener.

Enjoy and thanks to Epicurious for this great recipe!