Rustic Vegetable and Polenta Soup

It was a happy coincidence that the weekend before school starts up Giada featured easy weeknight meals on her show. I was captivated by an easy soup featuring farmers market ingredients, so I decided to try it tonight. It was creamy, delicious, quick and easy. Definitely a keeper!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed or chopped
3 plum tomatoes, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium zucchini, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup instant polenta
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions
In a large heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, onions, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion begins to brown, about 6 minutes.

Add the parsley, thyme, garlic, tomatoes and zucchini, and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Slowly stir in the polenta and cook until the soup thickens and the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper.

Ladle into soup bowls and serve

Smoky Pork and Polenta

Yesterday on Rachael Ray, I saw her make a Smoky Chipotle BBQ Potted Pork that sounded delicious and sounded like something both of my men would like (Ben doesn't get included in this yet). I was not mistaken -- both Jack and Brian gobbled it up. But I do have to say that this is definitely NOT a 30 minute meal -- it took closer to an hour and a half from start to finish. Granted, I had to take a 15 minute break to hold Ben who got tired of being in his exersaucer, but it took a while to chop the pork and the veg, and then I had to cook the stew a bit longer than planned because the pork wasn't cooked all the way through. Well worth the wait.

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into bite-sized pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Smoked paprika, for seasoning
Flour, for dredging
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 onions, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 bottle Mexican-style beer (I used some Moose Drool because it's what we had and I wasn't cooking with Oberon -- I drank the Oberon instead)
15 oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, medium to spicy heat level, seeded and finely chopped, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
A handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped (I used the kind that comes in a tube, just to try it out, and couldn't tell the difference)
Quick-cooking polenta, for serving
Lime wedges, for serving

Directions
Season the pork cubes with salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge in the flour. Heat a Dutch oven with 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 turns of the pan, over high heat. Brown the pork on all sides. Remove to a plate, reduce the heat, and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onions, peppers, celery, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cover and sweat for 8 minutes or so. Uncover and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, and then deglaze the pot with the beer and let the liquid reduce, 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes, chipotle and adobo sauce, thyme, and cilantro and heat through. Add the pork back to the pot and simmer over medium-low heat until ready to serve. (This process took a while because the pork wasn't cooked all the way through, so it had to cook in the liquid. I think this allowed the flavors to meld nicely though.) Prepare quick-cooking polenta (1 minute). Serve with lime wedges.