Veggie-Topped Polenta Slices

Back on the farm. Carol and I drove back Saturday — the return trip quieter than the outgoing, the particular quiet of having arrived and returned, the holiday complete. The house was cold when I came in and the woodstove was the first order of business: kindling and birch bark and the big split maple pieces that take the cold out of the room within an hour. By the time I'd unpacked the car the house was itself again.

The turkey came home with me — Sarah and Jim had bought one too large and there was half of it remaining after all the carving. I made stock on Sunday, the November stock from the carcass, and then soup on Monday from the stock: the simple version with vegetables from the cellar, a pot that fed me for three days. The soup that Thanksgiving generates is sometimes better than the dinner itself. That's not a complaint about the dinner.

December is a week away. The fourth December since Helen died. I said that wrong: I don't count the Decembers by how many without her, not anymore. I count them by what they are: this December, this year, this set of preparations and rituals and people. It took time to get to that counting. It's the right counting.

Teddy texted on Sunday to ask if we could make a buche de Noel this Christmas. He found a recipe and wants to try it. I said: yes. He said: it's complicated. I said: good. He sent back three laughing emojis, which is fourteen-year-old for: I was hoping you'd say that.

The turkey soup carried me through Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday — three days from one good pot, which is the math that makes simple cooking feel like a kind of abundance. When the soup was gone and I was looking at the week ahead, I wanted something with that same quality: vegetables, a little effort, a result that doesn’t ask much of you. Veggie-topped polenta slices are that kind of recipe. You brown the polenta, you cook the vegetables, you put them together. December starts the same way the soup did — one good simple thing at a time.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 tube (18 oz) prepared polenta, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup baby spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (optional, for serving)
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Prep the polenta. Remove polenta from tube and slice into 1/2-inch rounds. Pat each slice dry with a paper towel — this helps them crisp rather than steam in the pan.
Brown the polenta. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange polenta slices in a single layer and cook without moving them for 4—5 minutes, until a golden crust forms on the bottom. Flip and cook another 3—4 minutes on the second side. Transfer to a serving platter and keep warm.
Sauté the base vegetables. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the same skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini and bell pepper with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5—6 minutes until softened and beginning to color at the edges.
Add garlic and tomatoes. Push the vegetables to the side and add the garlic to the center of the pan. Cook 30 seconds until fragrant, then stir everything together. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook 2—3 minutes, pressing them gently with the back of a spoon so they release some of their juice.
Finish with spinach. Add the baby spinach and Italian seasoning, and toss until the spinach is just wilted, about 1 minute. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Assemble and serve. Spoon the vegetable mixture generously over the polenta rounds. Finish with Parmesan if using and a scattering of fresh parsley. Serve immediately directly from the platter.

Nutrition (per serving)

Veggie-Topped Polenta Slices — The Simple Pot That Gets You Through