Roasted Vegetable Salsa with Grilled Polenta Cakes |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 11 |
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The salsa for this recipe makes enough to serve over chicken for another meal or with crackers for a snack. Store extra salsa in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled eggplant (about 1 medium) |
2 cups (1-inch) cubed red bell pepper (about 1 medium) |
1 1/2 cups (1-inch) pieces onion (about 1 medium) |
1 tablespoon olive oil |
1/2 teaspoon salt |
1/2 teaspoon black pepper |
1 whole garlic head |
2 cups (1-inch) pieces seeded tomato (about 2 medium) |
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind |
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice |
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil |
1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil |
1 (17-ounce) tube refrigerated polenta, cut into 1/2-inch slices |
cooking spray |
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Place eggplant, bell pepper, and onion in a single layer on a large jelly-roll pan. Drizzle vegetables with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Cut off pointed end of garlic head 1/4 inch from top. Wrap garlic in foil, and place on pan. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes. (Do not stir vegetables.)
4. Stir tomato into vegetables, and bake an additional 10 minutes or until vegetables are beginning to brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes.
5. Unwrap garlic. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract pulp into a food processor. Discard skins. Add roasted vegetables, lemon rind, and next 3 ingredients to garlic pulp; pulse 12 times or until chunky, scraping sides of bowl once. Set aside.
6. While vegetables bake, heat a cast-iron grill pan over high heat 4 minutes. While pan heats, pat polenta slices dry with paper towels; coat both sides with cooking spray. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add polenta slices, in batches, to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until thoroughly heated and scored with grill marks. Remove from pan; keep warm.
7. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons salsa over each polenta cake, reserving remaining salsa for another use. Serve warm.
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