Cookbook # 69 I Heart Trader Joe's Cookbook

I'd once commented that none of my cookbooks had any of those nice and easy recipes that begins with "open a jar of pasta sauce".....until now.  And while I'm all for opening a jar and using premade items in cooking, I just don't purchase cookbooks that tell me how to do so.

I received this cookbook as a birthday gift from a coworker and didn't crack it open until recently.  I don't know why--obviously I'm a huge fan of anything that says "Trader Joe's" anywhere on it.  And shame on me, because I never would have considered opening up all of these premade items and putting them together myself.  Maybe those kinds of cookbooks can be useful. If only they didn't advocate adding Cool Whip to everything, I might actually be converted.

The I Heart Trader Joe's Cookbook has "more than 150 delicious recipes using only foods from the world's greates grocery store."  You can't really argue with that. And even though it limits itself to only using items from a somewhat small store, the variety of the recipes is pretty impressive: Sweet Potato, Pecan and Cranberry Salad, Asparagus Tart, Champagne-Safferon Risotto, Hot Toddy Chicken and Raspberry Caramel Turnovers to name just a few.

The recipe I chose was for Roasted Mushroom Polenta Stacks.  Granted, this recipe does center around one of those "love 'em or hate 'em" foods.  If you are not a mushroom fan, you might not love this so much.  I happened to adore this recipe. And sooooo easy! Aside from roasting mushrooms in the toaster oven for 10 minutes, this was all about opening packages, warming everything up and stacking them.  While cooking is fun, sometimes great food after only 15 minutes in the kitchen is pretty amazing.

Roasted Mushroom Polenta Stacks
adapted from the I Heart Trader Joe's Cookbook

1 18 ounce roll Organic Polenta
4 Stuffing Portabella Mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
4 ounces fress mozzarella cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 jar Pasta Sauce (warmed)
1 jar roasted red peppers cut into strips
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. 
Place polenta rounds on parchment-line baking tray. 
Toss mushrooms with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 
Place on baking tray with polenta and bake all for 10 minutes.
Slice mushrooms into strips
Place warmed polenta round on each plate and top with mozarella and dallop of pasta sauce.  Drape mushrooms and roasted red pepper strips across the top.