Polenta & Mushrooms, Gorgonzola Salad, Chocolate Cake with Raspberries

For Valentine's Day Dinner I was in Eugene, Oregon visiting my sister. We decided to cook dinner and wanted something relatively easy and quick. The main course was polenta and mushrooms with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.  The salad was a standard gorgonzola salad to compliment the savory flavors of the main mushroom based dish.

For dessert we bought a chocolate cake and icing mix from Trader Joe's (we decided a cake from scratch was to complicated at the time) and added fresh raspberries for decoration and to compliment the dark, rich chocolate.

Polenta & mushrooms
Ingredients:
1 cup button mushrooms thinly sliced
1 cup shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 cups polenta
parmesan cheese for toppings

Simmer mushrooms and garlic until cooked. Cook polenta until it is the consistence of oatmeal. Serve in bowl with mushrooms over polenta.

Gorgonzola Salad
Ingredients:
2 cups mixed greens
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup cucumbers
olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing, to taste

Combine in a bowl and mix. Adjust quantities of ingredients to taste! Serve on separate plate or bowl.


Arrange your entire meal on the dining table and note how beautiful and delicious everything looks, enjoy !