From the garden to the roasting pan

I do love to cook.  I realized that anew yesterday afternoon as I was cruising around the garden once again in search of something to prepare for dinner.  I am one of those who goes through phases in all areas of my life, but especially in the kitchen.  Sometimes I am very organized, with menus planned far in advance, and posted on the refrigerator door, all ingredients at hand.  In reality, that happens only in short bursts, which don't come with any regularity or frequency.  Who am I kidding?

The real me is the person wandering around the garden, basket and knife in hand at 6 pm , looking for inspiration.  That's what I was doing yesterday afternoon/evening.  Fortunately I came up with an idea for a meal plan and the pursuit of that meal left me smiling and very pleased with myself.  I understand now that the satisfaction I find in cooking comes not only from the pleasure I derive in eating food that is flavorful and pleasing to look at, but from the creative process involved -  from start to finish.  New ideas get my juices flowing.  I tend to use cookbooks and magazines mainly for inspiration and ideas; I am usually not one who closely follows a recipe. Occasionally that gets me into trouble, but, really, do you think those cute old Italian, or French, or Turkish grandmas are following a recipe?

So, here's what I came up with for dinner, when there was really nothing to cook.  Vegetables. Lots of them.  Straight from the garden and into the roasting pan.  I chose squash, broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, eggplant, onions, and a couple tomatoes for moisture.  I served the vegetables with garlic polenta.  It turned out to be a very satisfying, colorful, and tasty meal.


Roasted Vegetables with Garlic Polenta

For the Polenta-
3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 1/2 cups cold water
1 cup coarse ground yellow corn meal
1 teaspoon of salt

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to moderate and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the polenta thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan.  About 10 minutes.  Serve hot in a bowl, or mold as I did by spreading the polenta to 1/2" thick on a non-stick baking sheet and allowing it to cool.  Chill until firm.   To finish, cut into pieces, brush each with olive oil and cook in a heavy frying pan or grill until crisp and brown, top and bottom.

For the vegetables-
2 summer squash, cut in 1" pieces

1 red pepper, cut in chunks
1 stalk of broccoli, cut in florets
1 cup cauliflower pieces
4 small onions, cleaned and left whole
1 small eggplant, cut into 1" pieces
3 tomatoes, cut into 1" pieces
2 cloves of garlic, slivered
2- 3 Tbsp olive oil
3 branches of basil, slivered
salt and pepper to taste

Set oven to 425F.  Place empty roasting pan in oven to heat. Wash and cut vegetables into pieces.  In a large bowl toss all vegetables with olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper to coat.  Place vegetables in the hot roasting pan and roast until they are tender and slightly browned, stirring 2 or 3 times to allow them to brown evenly - about 30 minutes.  About 5 minutes before they are done, sprinkle the slivered basil on top of the vegetables and stir to distribute.  Serve on polenta, or use with pasta.

We ended up with leftover vegetables which I'm planning to combine with some juicy tomatoes, a few olives, perhaps some capers and some feta cheese to serve with fresh pasta for lunch tomorrow.