Tonight I had some help in the kitchen preparing dinner. Thanks Chris! We had a plain, and simple dinner. But sometimes plain can be so good! I made an easy chicken parm dish, zucchini, and polenta.
(Don’t mind the little messiness on the plate with tomato sauce…it was very runny)
This was my first time tackling polenta, and this type was so easy and really really good! I had my fair share of polenta when I went to Italy here, and here, and here, but I never had it sliced and grilled. It has a salty, creamy, cheesy-ness about it. I fell in love! I took Trader Joe’s Organic Polenta…
And sliced it in about 1/2 inch slices.
I baked the chicken in the oven with some Organic Roasted Tomatoes and leftover tomato sauce at 375 degrees for about 20 min. Then I topped the chicken with mozzarella cheese and baked for another 5-7 minutes until melted.
While the chicken was baking I grilled the zucchini and polenta on my grill pan. I think if there were 2 kitchen tools I could not live without-I would have to say my grill pan and my tongs.
I didn’t add any salt or seasonings to my zucchini or polenta. I kind of overdid it on the salt last night so I wanted to hold off on it tonight. It allowed the real essence of the zucchini to come through, and it was so sweet and juicy. The polenta was grilled to perfection! A little crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. I’m telling you I fell in love!
The chicken was so tender you could cut it with a fork. Juicy and tender-just how I like it!
I know this looks like a lot of food, and it was, but I was really hungry. I even had one more slice of polenta. I have cut back on my snacks lately, and haven’t even snacked while making dinner so I allow myself a little bigger portion of the healthy stuff AT dinner. I’m hoping this helps me and doesn’t hurt me. You can really rack up the calories with out knowing it when mindlessly snacking.
Because I had such a large dinner I decided not to have anything else. I still felt a tad hungry, but I think it was just in my head. I occupied myself doing something else, and eventually it went away.
I packed my WARM running clothes for tomorrows run, got a few things packed for my lunch and dinner tomorrow, and did my morning routine..at night. I didn’t do it this morning because I did the 30 day shred so I decided to do it at night. Now its in bed early for me because I am going to use all the energy I have to get up and do the 30 day shred tomorrow morning before work. I need motivation!
What are some cooking tools -besides the obvious- you can not live without?
