Garden Vegetable Polenta Lasagna

We recently joined another CSA, called Farm Fresh to You. What I really like about it is the choice of boxes from small to large, from mixed, fruit only, to quick and easy to cook fruits and veggies. Since it's only my husband and myself for now, we're currently getting a weekly small box, and it is working out well. They send wonderful recipes with the box, and the vegetables are adequately cleaned before arrival. The best part is that they deliver to your home or workplace. These are all things that I missed with our last CSA.

So, I'm back to getting creative to finish off the veggies. This week, we had an assortment of cheeses left in the fridge, as well as some herbs and veggies. I had made an heirloom tomato sauce earlier in the week. Not only was this simple to make, it was actually quite delicious. I recommend serving it with a simple, green salad and some fruit for dessert. Sorry, there are no pictures -- we dug in too fast!

Garden Vegetable Polenta Lasagna
Serves 4-6

2 tubes Trader Joe's Polenta, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 recipe heirloom tomato sauce (I added small bits of smoked ham at the beginning of cooking the sauce)
15 oz. container ricotta cheese
1/3 cup chopped basil
1 egg
pinch nutmeg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion (I used a white spring onion...not a green onion, but a young onion with the green tops still attached), chopped
8 oz. blue lake green beans, washed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add onions. Cook until soft. Add green beans and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the beans are crisp-tender.

Combine ricotta, basil, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl.

Pour 1/4 cup or so of tomato sauce on the bottom of an 8 by 11 glass baking dish and swirl to coat the bottom. Layer slices of polenta from one of the tubes. Top with ricotta mixture, followed by the cooked green beans and onions. Top with the rest of the polenta. Pour the remainder of the sauce on top and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese. Cook for 35 minutes in the oven.

This Week's Menu

Early spring is about to hit, and we've had a mixture of rainy vs. very sunny days. I'm inspired to eat the fresh, young fruits and veggies that are starting to show up in our farmer's markets, like asparagus and artichokes.

We also recently found out that we're expecting a baby in early October, so my goal is to eat as healthy as possible, with as many fresh fruits and veggies that I can fit into my diet.

Here's the goal for the week (I don't plan a dinner for every night since we tend to have leftovers or something comes up. We always have standbys, like risotto or pizza to use up leftover veggies and ingredients):

Breakfasts
Whole wheat english muffins with egg, cheddar cheese, and tomato slices
Nut cluster cereal with milk and orange juice
Berry shakes

Lunch group
Artichoke phyllo pie with side salad of spinach and oranges

Dinner
Sun: Artichoke phyllo pie
Mon: Fresh pasta
Tue: White fish with baby bok choy
Wed: Feijoada with greens and rice
Thu: Chicken milanese with side salad of tomato, cucumber, and avocado and bread