Go Ahead, Play with Your Food

Lately, it's been a bit of a struggle at dinner time. No, not over food. Manners. Seems like more than the kiddo can bear to remain seated, use a fork she's been using well for years, and just focus. Hmmm. I can recall my own struggles. They ended with a solid thump of a spoon to the middle of my forehead. A firm tap, dealt out by my dad, who had the longest arms of any human ever known. Or at least it felt that way from the farthest end of the table or the corner of the back seat.

Temporary attention span issues aside, let's think about this for a moment. Maybe dinner should be fun. Food should be fun. Like legos. Maybe not molecular gastronomy smoking and levitating over the plate, but just add a little something to the topography once in a awhile.

So, I played. Basically, this is just grilled vegetables with some spreads and polenta. Yes, I used polenta in the tube. I've not gone all "semi-homemade" on you guys. The only addition to the polenta in the tube is water. It's not ready to go, unless you slice it into circles and bake it. Which works really well. The rest is just stacking up grilled veggies and using pesto for spackle. Don't heat up the grill and oven both just for this one. Wait til you were going to throw something on the grill anyway.

Eggplant Stacks
For the grill
1 small eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch rounds
1 zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch rounds
canola oil
salt and pepper

For the oven
1 tube of plain polenta, sliced 1/2 inch rounds

For the spreads
1/2 cup basil pesto
1/2 cup kalamata olive tapenade (recipe below)
3 roasted red peppers, cut in strips
1 recipe roasted tomatoes (recipe below)
4 oz. goat cheese

Prepare all the pesto and spreads. Oil, salt and pepper the vegetables for the grill.

Now, you can buy the pesto and the olive spread (not that it's better, but you can). Other time saving steps — well, my husband does all the grilling. That helps a lot! Grill these just a few minutes a side on a medium-hot grill. The grill marks are nice to have.

Preheat oven broiler on low.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place rounds on the sheet. Broil for a few minutes until golden brown.

Assemble the stacks in this order polenta, 1 tsp. basil pesto, 1 slice zucchini, 1 tsp. olive tapendade, 1 slice eggplant, top with a few red pepper strips and some of the roasted tomatoes, then a tablespoon of the goat cheese. Repeat with the other rounds and veggies. If you are making this in a larger quantity, doubling for a party even, you can keep these warm in the oven before serving.

Kalamata Olive Tapenade
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
1 large clove garlic
1/3 cup, or about 3 roasted red peppers (jar is fine)
1/3 cup pine nuts
black pepper to taste

Put the garlic in the food processor first, then the nuts and red peppers, olives last. Try to keep some of the texture, not just puree, to use the pulse method instead of just turning it on. This dip is amazing with pita chips and bruscetta or a antipasta platter as well. "Pitted" kalamatas are not always all pitted, so for the benefit of your food processor (trust me on this one) check the olives for pits as you put them in.

Roasted Tomatoes
12 oz. cherry tomatoes (about 2 cups), stemmed
2 tbs. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
1/2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper
1/2 tbs. chopped fresh marjoram
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Toss tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper and marjoram in large bowl. Place tomatoes in single layer on baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes are blistered, about 35 minutes. Top with chopped basil. These work well in other recipes, but also make a delicious and easy pasta dish when tossed with cooked pasta and a bit of grated parmesan.