The Critic's inaugural "official" meal tasting was tonight.
I made polenta, topped with red chard and roasted artichokes, in a vegan bearnaise sauce, garnished with diced tomatoes (could have just has easily been red peppers), kept company by a local purple sweet potato.
It sounds fancier than it is. It's a really basic vegan meal that requires very little effort, time, or expense. The polenta was pre-made (this time), and you can find it in a variety of "flavors" - plain, sun-dried tomato and garlic, basil and garlic, garlic-lime-cilantro, etc. If you choose to make it yourself, that's really easy, too. The chard was wilted (or water sauteed) for about 5 minutes, with a spritz of Bragg's Liquid Aminos. The artichoke hearts were canned (but organic) and I put them in the oven with the polenta, to brown.
The most time-consuming, ingredient-intensive recipe is the bearnaise sauce. I'm going to tweak it and streamline it for you before I post it. I've definitely done better. I wonder what the Critic thought?
The sauce was pretty rich; I was afraid Emma wouldn't like it, as she is not a fan of condiments, in general. She also prefers not to combine food. For instance, when we have rice and beans, she likes her rice on the side. When we have Pasta Primavera, she likes her noodles naked, and a pile of steamed veggies on the side.
I think we were both pleasantly surprised, though! She ate every bite, AND she liked it! We're going to have to work on "candid action shots," though - because these are not what I had in mind for the blog:
The moment of truth...
More thoughtful deliberation...(I love this about her)
The Kiddie Kitchen Critic awards this meal FIVE RADISHES!
SUCCESS!
(she gave each individual item, by itself, 6 radishes...lol)
Julie - That looks so yummy. I'm going to try it for sure! And I must say that I've never had a purple sweet potato!
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