I’ve been getting a little back into the swing of things and preparing some actual dishes for dinner.  (Rolled up deli turkey slices notwithstanding.)  Y’all know I love my Modern Vegetarian; I’ve already tried this and I wanted to try this polenta recipe.

The dish is called Parmesan Polenta with Poached Eggs and Roasted Feta (once again with the overly descriptive title), and it’s much more of a composed dish than I usually make.  It calls for a pile of polenta covered with roasted feta, then grilled radicchio, and then a poached egg.

The main problem here was that I wasn’t sure the kids would like the feta, and I hate radicchio.  Hmm, that’s half of my recipe here.  No worries.  I had an idea.

I left out the roasted feta and exchanged the grilled radicchio for sautéd spinach, garlic and tomatoes.  I have to tell you, I was kind of proud.  I told RD Husband that I feel like I’m getting better at improvising recipes, which to me is really the sign of a good cook.

The meal turned out great, and the kids actually loved it.  They loved breaking into the egg and letting the yolk run all over everything, and they love eggs, so that flavor kind of sealed everything together.  I served it with fresh watermelon and some steamed broccoli.

Veggies, Polenta and Eggs

• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup quick cooking polenta
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 ounces baby spinach
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 clove garlic, sliced thinly
• 4 eggs

Heat the milk and water in a saucepan until almost boiling.  Reduce heat and add polenta, whisking until it thickens (this may take anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes).  Adjust the texture by adding up to 1/2 cup more water, if you want a looser polenta.  Mix in the butter and Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

In a sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add garlic and tomatoes and cook until garlic is fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute.  Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Poach the eggs, drain and set aside.  To assemble, divide the polenta amongst 4 serving plates.  Top with sautéd spinach and tomatoes and a poached egg.

download and print recipe

look at those garlic slices; the egg is perfect!

Now, I’m kind of not finished here yet, because I have to tell you about my amazing egg poacher.  No, it’s not going to be one of those cheesy informercial products.  Actually, it’s quite elegant and had a great modern design.  It’s called the Poach Pod.  I got mine at a cool design store, only to realize you can get it at Bed Bath and Beyond (that’s B3 for all you insiders).  Check it:

These little silicone suckers hold your eggs while you poach them, keeping them all neat-like and eliminating the need for vinegar (which, UGH, I hate in poaching water).  It really takes most of the difficulty of the technique out of poaching, and it’s more elegant than the microwave version (and the texture is better, too).

So, get yourself some of these if you like poached eggs.  They rock.  And I’m not even getting any kickbacks from them for this post.

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