Polenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan Club

Polenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese

Guys. I’m 29 years old, and people are having babies. And not just any people, either. I’m talking about one of my best friends in the world. If you’ve been following my posts, you may remember Caroline from when we made Bolo de Fubá for my first Snack Ambassador post. Well, she had her baby a few weeks ago! Now, I knew babies were a lot of work, but I never really thought about how hard they might make it to cook. Y’know, because babies and open flames aren’t the best combo. So if you happen to have a friend who’s expecting, why don’t you consider making them a little something to pop in the freezer and reheat once their little one arrives? Like these polenta bars with tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus and goat cheese!

Though the polenta requires pretty constant stirring, this is an easy and healthy meal that’ll hold up well in the freezer. It’d also make for a quality meal prep, if you can stomach eating the same thing for a week (which I can’t). This dish is highly adaptable. If you’re not into any of the veggies I chose, you can easily swap them out for ones you do like. I’m not the boss of you, so feel free to go wild with different flavors and textures here. Polenta is such a simple base that the possibilities are truly endless.

Polenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan ClubPolenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese - Leisure Fan Club

Polenta Bars with Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese (8 servings)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups polenta
  • 1 carton of cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 10 oz sliced mushrooms
  • 1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and sliced into 1 inch pieces
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Pesto (I used store bought from Trader Joe’s, but you do you)
  • 4 oz goat cheese
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 4 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit and line a baking pan with parchment paper or tin foil. While you’re at it, line a baking dish with parchment paper. Ideally, the parchment paper will cover all the sides for easy lifting once the polenta has set.
  2. Time to make the polenta. Bring 6 cups of water and 1 tsp of salt to a boil before gradually adding 2 cups of polenta. Lower the temperature to a simmer and cook until it’s become pretty thick, stirring often so that the polenta doesn’t stick to the pot. This will probably take about 30 minutes. Once the polenta has thickened, mix in 1 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of goat cheese before transferring to your lined baking dish to set. Put this to the side for now.
  3. While you wait for the polenta to set, mix the cherry tomatoes and 1 clove of garlic together and toss with a tbsp of olive oil, half a tsp of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Now put it in the oven for about 20 minutes, tossing it halfway through.
  4. While the tomatoes are in the oven, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add the other 2 cloves of minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Then add the mushrooms and asparagus. Cook these until tender. This should take about 10-12 minutes.
  5. When the tomatoes, asparagus and mushrooms are cooked, mix them together and season to taste with salt and pepper. Then set them aside for a few minutes to let the flavors mingle.
  6. During this time, spread a thin layer of pesto over the surface of the polenta. About 5 tbsp should cover it. Then pour the veggies over the polenta and let the whole thing chill in the fridge for at least a half hour before removing it from the baking dish and cutting it into 8 even bars.

Note: If you don’t plan on eating this immediately or soon, it can be frozen for up to 3 months. Let it thaw before reheating. To reheat, either pop it in the microwave (I like to blast things in increments of 30 seconds so that they don’t burn me to death), or in a toaster or regular oven. If you opt to use the oven, 10 minutes at 400° Fahrenheit should do.

4 thoughts on “Polenta Bars w/ Tomato, Mushroom, Asparagus and Goat Cheese”

  1. These were really great! Definitely appreciated having a freezer-friendly meal ready to heat up at all times cause otherwise I’d have been living off beefy jerky and Oreos ?

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