2 New Vegetarian Recipes!

Today was another meatless day.  I did not intentionally set out for it to be that way it just happened.  I have been contemplating this recipe for some time now (like 2 weeks?) but it never seemed like the right time to make it.  Today though I thought it was time!

Coconut Broccoli Stir Fry
1) Spray a skillet with non-stick spray and add 1 TBSP Tamari (if you don't have this special soy sauce just use regular).  Add 1 pkg tofu, drained and cubed.  Coat tofu with Tamari and cook until all sides are browned, then remove tofu to a plate.
2) In the same pan add 1/4 cup water and 1 package broccoli florets.   Cover and cook until broccoli is tender.
3) Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1 tbsp brown sugar to the pan.  Stir around, and then add tofu to the pan.  Let simmer for a bit to reduce.
4) Serve over a bed of rice (it doesn't matter what kind of rice you use, but if you use sticky rice it should soak up the liquid better; the liquid is yummy btw!)

Today I had the day off.  I had an appointment with the therapist and then I went to Fayetteville Technical Community College to register for Yoga and Beginning Pottery (fun stuff!!)  After that I decided to go to A.C. Moore - my new favorite crafty place.  Right across the street is Pier 1 Imports so I thought I would stop by to see if they had anything cute.  I got this plate:

It was on clearance!  Originally 30$ I got it for $7.50!  Can you believe it?  My kitchen is pepper themed so it was perfect.  Doesn't my table look cute with the plate as a center piece?  Its perfect to put fruit on!

I also go two small pepper plates (not in the photo!) and 2 small bowls that look like flowers.  All for only 15$ what a fun shopping experience!

Well that is all the fun stuff I did today.  I did, however, make a new recipe for dinner!  I was trying to use the left over ricotta cheese from the cheesy spinach pasta and also use up some Swiss chard that was in the fridge.  I looked on Eipcurious for those two ingredients and found a great recipe that uses polenta as well.  I recently purchased some polenta but really did not have a clue as to how I was going to use it.  Anyways, I present to you:

Baked Polenta w/ Swiss Chard, Cheese and Jalapeno!
1) Saute 1 onion in a large skillet until tender.  Add 1 chopped garlic clove, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, and 1 seeded and chopped jalapeno (2 if they are small.)  Next, add 1/2 lb Swiss Chard (ribs removed; leaves sliced 1/2 inch thick) and cover with lid.
2) In a sauce pan boil 1 3/4 cup water.  Once boiling add 1/2 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal), a little at a time, continually stirring.  Once polenta is thick, remove from heat.
3) In a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup ricotta cheese and 1 egg.
4) Add cheese and egg mixture to polenta in the sauce pan and stir.
5) Layer a baking dish with 1/2 of the polenta, 1/2 of the chard, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and then repeat the layers.
6) Bake a 350 for about 30 min.

This recipe makes 4 servings at about 260 calories a piece.  You can just double everything if you need more servings; if you double it cook time will be about 40-45 min.  I didn't get a picture of this because it would not cooperate and come out of the pan looking pretty.  It did taste good though!