Reheating time: 10-15 minutes

And we’re back! Can we have three day weekends, like, every week? For so many reasons, I think that’s a great idea. Or maybe we could just do every other week completely off- work really hard for one week, take a week off. Repeat. I think it would make everyone a lot more productive during the time that they did work. Or, let’s just do summer vacation for adults- two months of the year, complete free-for-all. I can dream… But nope, we’re back to reality on this fine Tuesday, and thankfully, with some tasty eats to ease your weekday pains. Tamarind comes from a tree- there’s only one kind of tamarind tree, and it produces one kind of fruit. Actually more of a legume, it’s tangy, sticky, sweet, and goes great with everything. Literally everything. It’s so versatile. We’ve employed the power of the tamarind pod tonight, as a marinade and glaze for some beautiful airline chicken breasts. Creamy polenta with roasted butternut squash and toasted buckwheat provides all the comfort food feels with none of the dairy, roasted eggplant and mushrooms are bringing the nutrients, and mapley carrots with sesame yogurt provide some crunch, freshness, and depth of flavor. Oh yeah, strawberry-rhubarb sambal- it’s hot, it’s sweet, and you’re gonna love it.

Get in there!

For the chicken:

Super easy- grill, broil, or bake. Whichever method you choose, just make sure to get some good caramelization on the skin. To grill, just… grill the chicken. Skin side down first, for 2-3 minutes over high heat, flip for 2-3 more minutes, and it’s ready to go. To broil, same sort of process- broil skin side up for 3-4 minutes, flip, and broil for 3-4 more minutes. One more solid broil on the skin side, and you’re done. To bake, just bake the breasts at 375F for 10-12 minutes, till heated through. That’s it. Don’t microwave. Needs direct heat!

For the polenta:

Warm the polenta in a saucepot. Add a splash or two of water to a small saucepot (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan with like, ¼” of water), and scoop in the polenta. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until the polenta is steamy and fluid. Break up any big chunks as you stir, and add more water if needed. Once it’s hot, give it a season to account for any dilution from the added water, and plate it up! Makes a great vessel for the chicken and eggplant 🙂 

For the eggplant:

Lowkey my favorite part of this dinner- eggplant, mushrooms, and black garlic. Eat this cold, or broil with the chicken, or just microwave- you can’t mess this up.

For the carrots:

Bake, broil, or microwave. Similar to the eggplant, you can’t really screw this up. Just get them nice and hot, and sauce them up with the tahini-yogurt. Yum. 

To plate it up:

Like I said, start with a nice bed of polenta on the bottom of your plate. Slice up the hot chicken breast, and lay it right on top there. Strawberry rhubarb sambal! This chicken was made for this sauce. Quite literally. Eggplant + mushrooms, carrots, and finally, yogurt sauce. That’s it! Enjoy 🙂 <3 WECO