Polenta and my favorite salad

Welcome to the first issue of the newsletter dedicated to all of the things that fill my heart and stomach — Party of One. Today I’m sharing a dinner I had recently. Life is slowing down with the arrival of the end of the semester, and I’ve found lots of time to cook and bake so many things. Very excited to share them with you all; if you want even more eats, head to @claudeata_!

First and foremost, a huge thank you to everyone who recently subscribed. Honestly I was overwhelmed and surprised by the support I got from family and friends last Monday! I promise to deliver great recipes, recommendations, and essays to your inbox every week — we’re sticking with Mondays for now.

Today’s dinner party for one includes three items — three! First up is a cranberry rosemary “mocktail,” which promises to aid in digestion with the addition of straight-up cranberry juice and apple cider vinegar. Regardless if it does, it tastes pretty good — I’ve been making it all week!

Good for your gut!

If drinking during the week is more your speed, you could definitely add gin or vodka. Ten out of ten. Sip on it while you cook. Recipe is linked here.

Next up we have my favorite salad equation of all time: greens + red onion + pecans + sharp cheese + GRAPES, but this time I’m using a Bartlett pear. Top with EVOO and balsamic vinegar and I promise you’ll actually look forward to eating it.

Fave salad <3

My sister and I have a running joke between us at the dinner table when my mom makes a salad. She throws any vegetable on top of a bed of lettuce and dresses it with hummus or something. Yes, I am describing a salad, but said salad does not hold its weight when matched up with the aforementioned salad equation.

Think of lettuce as a vehicle for all the ingredients going on top of it — they must sing together in order for maximum craving-ness. The pear balances the zing of the onion, the cheese and nuts remind you of a charcuterie board, and the leaves are just there holding up everyone else.

And finally, to round out the meal, we have polenta. I love corn in all of its forms — popcorn, corn chips, corn relish, corn on the cob — but polenta is corn territory I don’t cross into often. But why not? It’s literally so cheap and don’t tell me you’re not impressed with this presentation.

I sautéed two cloves of sliced garlic, a handful of sun-dried tomatoes (that have been in my fridge since the summer — remember what I said about cooking for one?), and a sprig or two of rosemary in some olive oil. Then I let them get all nice and toasty and just topped my polenta coins with that medley of goodness.

Voila.

I wouldn’t call myself a recipe developer (I don’t call myself that actually), but I do enjoy the process of coming up with recipes all on my own and tweaking them each time to find the perfect sauce or correct amount of garlic to use (it’s always more than one clove, of course).

What am I going to do next time with these three recipes?

1. The salad is perfect. I’ve made it so many times, but if you have any suggestions I guess you can let me know…

2. As for the mocktail, I’ve been upping the amount of cranberry juice from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup, and I actually enjoy the bitterness of apple cider vinegar, so I’ve been doubling that too.

3. I wish I had some parm to grate over top of the polenta, but I am a college student who takes forever to use a block of cheese. If you have roommates, invest in a block of Italian cheese and add it to the tops of the little polenta coins for me. <3

If you’ve made it this far, thank you! Mailings will be mainly focused on food from here on out — I’m doing what brand strategists call “leaning into my niche.”

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