No fancy recipes, tools, or ingredients needed. Whip up this healthy grilled polenta and veggie meal in just a manner of minutes. All you need is a tube of prepared polenta and some fresh in- season vegetables. I’m using heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash and radicchio (which is extra delicious when it’s grilled to smokey perfection), but you can use any of your favorites. {Vegan, and gluten-free}
Sometimes it’s hard to find good healthy options to eat when you’re traveling or on vacation. It’s especially challenging if you are looking for vegetarian and/or vegan options.
Luckily more restaurants and hotels are starting to incorporate vegetarian and vegan options on their menus. The Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas is one of those helping to make eating plant-based healthy food easier. (cheer, cheer …jump, jump with joy!)
They’ve teamed up with the famous Vegan chef Tal Ronnen and now offer vegetarian and vegan options in every restaurant in the hotel. I hope this is a big trend! that more places offer healthy vegetarian/vegan options that go beyond the “veggie burger”!
Check out some of the options. They all sound amazing…I mean, hello… Yum!
There were a couple of polenta options on here , that jumped right out at me. I LOVE polenta! In any way shape or form! It’s so versatile! Polenta can be the star of a meal, or it can be used as an alternative to pasta, rice, or potatoes. So, in order to appease my polenta craving, I whipped up this Grilled Polenta and Veggies. Thank you Tal Ronnen and Wynn for the inspiration.
For this recipe, I decided to keep things super easy and use already prepared polenta. You know the stuff that comes in the handy tubes. If you haven’t tried prepared polenta yet, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Don’t get me wrong, I do love creamy polenta made from scratch with corn meal, but using this prepared version will shave off at least an hour from your meal prep time.
I wanted to create something that would be fuss free, and at the same time fancy enough to be able to serve to guests.
I’m using some heirloom tomatoes, fresh asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash , and a bit of radicchio (for the “fancy” factor) and grilling it all and serving over polenta cakes. Serve with some rustic Italian bread and a glass of cold white wine (or some prosecco) and you’ve got the makings for a backyard BBQ or summer party.
Now..if only I could teleport myself to a lounge chair by the pool at the Wynn!
- 1 tube precooked polenta (approx. 18 oz.) cut into 12 pieces
- 1 pint heirloom tomatoes (or cherry, or grape), larger tomatoes cut in half
- 1 lb. fresh asparagus, stems trimmed
- 1 large zucchini, cut in half lengthwise
- 1 medium yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise
- 1 red bell pepper, cut in half and seeded
- ½ small head radicchio, cut into quarters
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil (for coating polenta and veggies)
- crumbled feta cheese for topping (optional omit for Vegan option)
- Heat a grill pan over medium heat. (or BBQ gill)
- Brush polenta slices (both sides) and all veggies with olive oil to coat.
- Place polenta, and all veggies on the grill. Cook until grill marks are viable (about 10 min. Turn over and repeat on other side. Check periodically, the radicchio may cook quicker than other veggies.
- Cut zucchini, squash and red pepper into desired size pieces. Place 3 slices of polenta and ¼ of vegetable on each plate. Sprinkle with feta if using, and serve. (you may want to drizzle a little olive oil or balsamic vinaigrette over on top).
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