Recipe for Roasted Vegetables with Creamy Polenta
Updated May 16, 2011
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I love quick and easy meals, especially during the weekdays. I also love to create a good meal out of what I have in the pantry or refrigerator. I hate it when things go to waste. So this meal was inspired by the need to use up my vegetables before it was too late.
I chopped up eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, Roma tomatoes, and red onions. I threw them all in a Pyrex dish and tossed them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. I roasted them in the oven until they were nice and tender…and full of flavor! If you think you hate eating veggies, try them roasted, they are SO good!
I am usually fine with a meal of just veggies, but I was craving some polenta. So I made a pan of creamy polenta to go with. It was the perfect side to my veggies. I topped the meal off with some fresh Parmesan cheese and voila, a meal in no time.
If you haven’t tried polenta, I am so sorry. I love the stuff. You can enjoy it creamy or you can let it set up and then cut it into little cakes. I like it both ways. I usually make extra so I can have polenta cakes the next day. It is a great grain that goes well with so many dishes. Give it a try!
Roasted Vegetables with Creamy Polenta
(Printable Recipe)
- 1 eggplant
- 1 zucchini
- 1 yellow squash
- 3 Roma tomatoes
- ½ red onion
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Italian seasoning
1. Chop up all of the vegetables. Make sure they are about the same size.
2. Place the chopped veggies in a Pyrex dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
3. Mix the veggies until they are well coated.
4. Roast them in a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes or until tender. Stir them a few times while they are cooking.
For the Polenta:
- 1 ¾ cups yellow cornmeal
- 6 cups water
- 2 tsp. salt
- Butter/Parmesan cheese (if you wish)
1. Bring the water to boil. Add the salt. Whisk in the polenta.
2. Turn heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens, stirring often.
3. It will take about 20 minutes to thicken.
4. Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese, if using. I like to keep it healthy so I usually don’t put in the butter, sometimes a little Smart Balance. I do sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.
5. Serve with vegetables.
I LOVE roasted veggies … in fact, I made some this weekend myself : )
I have actually never tried polenta though … I’m going to have to sometime though, I feel like I’m missing out!
I agree- roasting veggies makes them that much more delicious. I hope you guys had a nice weekend!
Roasted veggies and polenta.. that is the perfect weeknight meal. I wanted to let you know my daughter and I made your cinnamon chip banana bread and it was super yum. Thumbs up from the kiddos. Thank you!
I hate letting things go to waste too. This is a perfect solution, thanks!
HOLY YUM!!
Looks delish! I LOVE polenta
I really should try to eat Polenta more – love it!
yum! i adore polenta, and the veggies sound delicious, too 🙂
yeah~ roasted veggies are so easy to make, so healthy and so yummy~
With polenta is a perfect meal! 😀
I absolutely love roasted veggies and in these times we can’t waste anything!
Looks delicious! And on the healthy side!
What a colorful and appetizing dish! Relly gorgeous!
You have been tagged! Please check the following post for more detailos:
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Cheers,
Rosa
That sounds and looks delicious – I just tried polenta and am glad I did! I added this recipe to my springpad – it’s a great way to organize your favorite recipes and meal plans – check it out, I think you’d really like it!
Rachel @ springpad
What a tasty and healthy recipe! Polenta is so versatile too. It goes with everything. Well done!
Oh! Polenta is my FAVORITE! I LOVE it and I’m surprised more people haven’t given it a shot! Delicious dish!
Lesley-I hope you try polenta, it is really good!
Erica-The weekend went too fast, like always!
Donna-I am glad you made the bread. It is a good one, huh?
Rosa-I will check out that link. Thanks!
Rachel-Never heard of springpad, I will look at it.
Teanna-I am surprised at how many people haven’t tried polenta. I love it!
Maria, this is a great pairing. You’ve combines two of my favorite things (polenta and roasted vegetables) and made a standout dish.
I do love roasting veggies it makes them sweet and delicious. I’ve not tried roasted veggies with polenta – what a great idea.
Rosie x
I always call polenta “yankee grits.” This looks like an awesome meal!
i’ve been meaning to try making my own creamy polenta! oh, too many things to try 🙂
Great looking dish. You wouldn’t catch me turning down a nice big bowl of creamy polenta with all that love on top!
Delicious! I love polenta!
This looks so delicious and healthy! I’ve been meaning to make polenta (I’ve never had it before!) and the addition of the roasted veggies looks fabulous. I’m definitely trying this!
Also, I made your Oatmeal berry muffins over the weekend and they are delicious! My husband and I have been eating them every morning for breakfast!
I love polenta, sounds delicious with roasted veggies!
I eat Polenta all the time — quick, easy, delicious and whole grain. This presentation looks delicious and healthy — will have to give ti a try. Thanks for sharing.
I love the sweetness from roasted vegies! Looks great!
This looks SO fabulous! I’ve never made polenta before — that is going to change soon. And you are so right about roasted veggies — they are so satisfying and delicious!
BTW, we had your portobello mushroom burgers for dinner last night! I swear, we eat REALLY well since I found your blog 🙂
Maria Your vegetables look so good I love to use everything up in the fridge. Looks great.
Kristen-Glad you liked the muffins.
Cheri-Polenta is so good and good for you. I love it!
Cathy-I am so glad you try our recipes. The portobello burgers are good! Glad you liked them!
Netts Nook-I try to never let anything go to waste!
Looks delicious! I could easily eat that any time of the day!! I also love polenta.
I grew up eating polenta and I love it! I have never tried it with roasted veggies but I can imagine it is wonderful. Great recipe!
Don’t you just love roasted veggies – adding them to creamy polenta is an incredible idea. Great post!
I love roasting veggies. It really brings out the flavor. I love polenta too. It’s a good change from the usual rice or bread. YUM!
I LOVE creamy polenta!! I need more practice making it. Mine ends up someplace in between creamy and firm.
i just made something like this last week, difference is that i added it on to whole-wheat pasta and not polenta. this is a very good and healthy dish.
I absolutely love roasted veggies, yum! I haven’t made polenta in a while, your sounds delicious with the parmesan. This is my kind of meal 🙂
Spryte-Keep practicing, you will get it:)
Jescel-Whole wheat pasta would be good too!
Andrea-My kind of meal too:)
I have never heard of Polenta before. Where does that come from? And what can you use it for?
Jenn-Polenta is cooked cornmeal. An Italian dish. You can find it at most stores, it is a yellow grain. Try the creamy polenta, it is easy to make. Just keep stirring it:) You can also pour it into a pan and let it set up. You can cut it into shapes and eat it as a “cake.” Serve it as a side dish to veggies, fish, meat, etc. You can grill the “cakes” or fry them. The choices are endless! You can also buy tubes of polenta in the store that has already been cooked, but I like to make it fresh!
This looks so good! I love roasted veggies…now if only I could get my husband to like polenta…
I need to eat more veggies after all those cookies I ate.
And I’m with you, I love polenta, there is so much you can do with it. I love all the things Giada does with it.
Maria this sounds like a snowy day meal all the way! I love what you do to veggies! Always good!
Yum! I have totally had polenta on the brain lately. This looks great!
i am so going to try this recipe for roasted veggies when i make polenta next!
ahh i love polenta..something so comforting about it! YUM!
I love polenta! It sounds great with these roasted veggies!
Sounds so good to me! I love this kind of meal! What does the other pea think of a meat-less meal?
Polenta is a dish that I still need to try, this looks wonderful!
I love vedggies. This is a must do!
Thanks, DCRose
Your roasted veggies look fantastic, I first started making them a few months ago and my family loves them!
Roasted veggies are my favorite!!!! This looks wonderful.
I love my veggies roasted best too. I use to steam them but then I wouldn’t eat them. Roast them and I cant get enough. I love polenta also. Mix in some cheese and I can just gobble it up! 🙂
We had our first all veggie day this week! I’ll need to keep this in mind for our next one; I haven’t had polenta in awhile, I love that stuff :).
Roasted veggies, rock. Even the five year old agrees!
I am so into roasted veggies at the mo, and this sounds ab fab. Like you I hate wasting food, and roasted veggies are a great way to use up anything that’s been festering in the fridge too long. 🙂
This looks delicious! Roasted veggies are some of my favs!! Especially when you add polenta to the picture. Everything goes better with polenta, right?! This is totally going to be one of my weeknight meals!
I LOVE roasted veggies, especially with a sprinkling of herbs! I’m not too keen on polenta but your roasted veggies look delish.
Maria
x
That looks delicious! I love roasted veggies!
We make this often. Isn’t it the ultimate comfort food? 🙂
you really can’t go wrong with roasting a variety of veggies, in looks or flavor. and polenta is a wonderful bed for so many things to lie upon. 🙂
great job, maria!
Sounds super easy and delicious. I love a good creamy polenta!
First off thank you for all the really GREAT recipes….my husband and I decided to go vegetarian and the recipes are wonderful!
So last night I made the “Roasted Vegetables with Creamy Polenta ” the veggies we’re perfect and the polenta was creamy (pat myself on the back) but it tasted really bland. I added butter and parmesan cheese with a few dashes of kosher salt and cracked black pepper, I even tried a dash of fresh nutmeg but…..bland city. What am I doing wrong? This was the second time I’ve made polenta, the first time it was lumpy. HELP!
Polenta doesn’t have a lot of flavor. You should try the Baked Polenta recipe on our site. It’s my favorite!