Herbed Grilled Polenta with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and Swiss Chard with Caramelized Onions

I had high hopes for this meal. It's from The Vegan Table and the pictures in the book were mouthwatering. We were disappointed.

The polenta was good, it had sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and parsley mixed in, then after it had cooled in a dish, was grilled to a nice crisp on the outside. I wasn't able to get small enough chunks of any of these mix-ins though; I would definitely recommend a food processor because my knife just didn't get the job done well enough and it would have been much better without large-ish chunks. I also would leave out the parsley. I think it's disgusting. I tried it because it was such a small amount, but every bite I had with it in there was just gross. I have vowed before to never use it again, somehow I always end up doing it though, thinking the recipe author must have a reason and this will be the time I like it. It's never worked and I am now going to take a stand: no more parsley!

The coulis was also good, it gave some moisture in addition to more flavor to the polenta. I think it needed some tomato though. In the book Colleen's photo of the coulis is the color and consistency of marinara. Not only would that color have been more appetizing than the odd orange color of ours, I think the tomato would have complimented this very well.

Now for the chard. My least favorite part...which is sad because chard is one of my favorite vegetables. First we caramelized the onions. We let them get really dark, they smelled great, then kalamata olives, capers, and the chard were added in. Once the chard was wilted lemon juice was squeezed on top. All of these mixed together was just way too bitter. I was able to eat it all, but it wasn't with the joy I usually have while eating chard. I won't be making this one again.