Polenta, Pasta or Risotto What's Your Choice

 What is a nice accompaniment to a tomato sauce or grilled chicken ro steak? Do you go for a side or base of  polenta, pasta or risotto? or do you eat these on their own? What works best with various sauces and sides?

Out of all three polenta is the most versatile. The ground corn meal can be perfect on its' own, as a base or gracing a plate as a side.It can be labor intensive if you want to cook it.It does require a lot of stirring after a basic mixing of finely ground cornmeal, water and salt.It can also be lumpy however the best way to beat this is to pulverize the meal before cooking.An easier method  would be buying the already made polenta logs and grilling them until they're crispy and golden yellow. A simple cacciatore sauce with chicken is the best main dish with it. The thin tomato sauce works well with the polenta. Another good sauce is a simple mushroom and spinach one. This is an easy make with simply sauteing spinach with baby bellas in a mix of garlic olive oil and butter. Can you serve polenta with grilled or roasted meats. Only if there's a sauce. On it's own , without any sauce ro even butter and cheese polenta can be somewhat dry. There should be some kind of sauce there.

If you want to serve a good side with steaks or chicken then think either pasta or polenta. Pasta can accompany  achicken in the form of noodles. Again with any kind of sauce it's a great side. You can even cut up a rotisserie chicken or a flank steak and add it to a tomato or spinach  sauce to make a heartier dish.Any kind of pasta is good on its' own. Just add butter or to make it more flavorful cook it in the broth of your choice. Unlike polenta there are so many different types that work well with any type of ingredient.  Penn can work with a chunky tomato sauce while linguine is perfect  as a base for clams or chicken cutlets. Risotto is a diffrent matter.Risotto is a phenomenal , especially the saffron infused risotto Milanese. This is perfect as a main course or as a side with any protein form lamb chops to shrimp. A plus about this addition is, like pasta, anything can be added to it while cooking. The miost popular add ins are mushrooms and asaparagus. You can also mix in chopped tomatoes too along with a variety of cheeses.

What's the most versatile and best? Use polenta for sauces. Try pasta as a side and use risotto as a main dish. 

Starring Veggies

It is hard to be a chef in a vegetarian house. You have to be both creative and thoughtful  since there is no m eat as the main course. What takes over? The designated veggie. It s possible to have a rounded dinner or even holiday meal where veggies shine.

Most vegetarian and vegan home chefs usually fall back on tofu. There's Gardien and Morningstar Farms to give a sub in for the real thing. However , as any vegan home chef will tell you, these products get old quick.Gardien does have some delicious meat alternatives like   their burgers and beef tips, yet most of their products come with  accompanying sauces. These are only teriyaki and Mandarin sauce and there's not much to do with them ,other than serve them with broccoli and rice.Also many stores (such as mine) don't carry the full line so I'm stuck with making the same three or four dishes almost every day.Morningstar Farms is the same. Their soy beef crumbles are versatile ,I've put them in homemade tomato sauce, chili and some thrown together Chinese influenced  stir fries. Yet that's it. Pasta every day is not good.Again it gets old real quick. To vary my menu as well as adding color to  dishes I've  decided to have three different veggies each prepared different ways. One it get us out of the culinary doldrums, two, an all veggie meal means more nutrition and lower calories and three, it's a great way to enjoy a harvest of various flavors and textures. The key aspect to remember is use spices along with vegan butter and olive oil to create interesting main and side dishes.

One veggie that is recapturing the nation's attention is eggplant. It's not being turned in oil sodden Parmesan style but robust grill worthy steaks. These will definitely be the main course and they're easy to make..It's taking one eggplant and cutting it lengthwise into three planks or steaks. Drizzle olive oil and add dashes of sea salt and pepper. Just grill for four minutes on each side. You can also broil them for a couple of minutes too.What is great about eggplant is that's its a sponge. Marinate it however way you like and the marinade's flavor will soak in, creating a rich flavor. Spiralized zucchini is another good choice. Zoodles, as they're commonly called are easy to make along with being made by Birdseye . They are great just sauteed with butter and garlic. Since the veggie is heavily water laden, you don;t have to worry about the sauce. The water is cooked out and blends nicely with the oil and butter. You can sprinkle on some vegan Parmesan cheese for a pasta vibe. Cauliflower has become a main star thanks to the many ways to cook it. It's now a main dish as "risotto'. It has the same ingredients as a regular risotto, with white wine and sauteed onions. One dish on my radar is cauliflower risotto Milanese , the elegant Lombard dish made with saffron.

Let the veggies be the star of the dinner show. Get creative as you turn them into main dishes. They'll add color and zing to the meal.