An inspired dinner

Hello friends!

I was reading my rss feed and facebook newsfeed yesterday trying to pass the time of my lunch hour when I read a post by an old friend.  She has company with another friend of ours called Always Gourmet in San Diego, Ca.  G posted that she felt the weather called for a hearty polenta dish for dinner with spinach and sausage.  It sounded perfect.  

I've been working to eat healthier the last  several years so I wanted to make a slightly healthier version of the traditional polenta I learned to make when I worked with the crazy Italians at L'Opera.  THe polenta I made was a tasty, protein and whole grain pack meal.  The recipe I used is this:

Polenta with Sausage, Spinach and Tomatoes
1/3 cup        polenta or cornmeal
1 1/3 cups   chicken broth
2 Tbsp         milk

1/2 cup        chopped onion

1 link           chicken sausage - I used Italian style, diced

1 tsp            olive oil

1 wedge      sonoma jack peppercorn parm cheese

1 wedge      laughing cow sundried tomato cheese

5 each         cherry tomatoes, quartered

2 cups         fresh baby spinach leaves

1. In a sauce pan (2 qts) sweat the onion in the olive oil.  When the onions become translucent, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, slowly add the polenta while stirring.

2. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to stir frequently until the mixture had thickened and most of the broth has been absorbed.  At this point you can add the sausage, cheese and milk.

3. Stir to incorporate the milk and bring back up to a simmer.  Once the sausage has had a chance to heat through and the cheese is completely melted, remove the polenta from the heat and stir in the spinach and tomatoes.

4. Continue to stir until the spinach is just wilted and the tomatoes are warm.  Transfer to a bowl, garnish and serve!

I garnished mine with a chiffinade of spinach, a couple of tomato wedges and a curl of asiago cheese.


I didn't do the math for the original version (which includes whole milk instead of broth, butter and handfuls of cheese) but I did calculate the nutritional information for this version.  The information is for the WHOLE recipe...

Calories:       497

Fat:              22.5 grams

Sat Fat:        8 grams

Carbs:          50 grams

Fiber             7 grams

Protein:         25.5 grams

Enjoy!