Fancy Monday Night Dinner

I have never cooked brussel sprouts before last night.  It was not until I tasted MetroFresh's brussel sprouts a few weeks ago, that I became a fan of brussel sprouts.  I cut the ends off and cut them in half, blanched them (which I just learned means put them in boiling water for a few minutes), then coated them with a very little grapeseed oil, salt and pepper, then roasted them on 350 for about 15 minutes.  I served this with polenta and tofu.  For the polenta, I cut them in 1/2 inches rounds, and put them in a hot pan with  oil cooking spray.  You can watch as they change to a darker yellow, then flip and wait for them to cook all the way through.  I served the polenta with a little cashew cream, basil, a drizzle of balsamic glaze and topped them with nectarines and strawberries.  Awesome new creation!!  For the tofu, I marinaded them in 1/4 cup agave syrup, 1/2 cup GF soy sauce, the juice of 2 limes, and lots of pepper.  After pressing the tofu to get the water out, I cut them in triangles, put them in a shallow pan with the marinade for about 30 minutes.  Then baked them at 300 for about 15 minutes.  After the oven, I put them on our stove top grill for a few minutes to get the grill marks and become a little more firm.  Yes, the dinner was  more difficult and time consuming, but the taste was out of this world.  BOTH girls loved it, and I saved the tofu sauce for Chad's dinner.  He just substituted a piece of chicken for the tofu.   I am trying to do one "fancy" dinner a week - I cant do this kind of cooking every night!!  (For those interested, Whole Foods as already cooked chicken breast by Bell that I pull out of the freezer for Chad's dinner.)  By the time he gets home it has thawed, and takes just a minute on the grill to heat up.  Cashew cream is a new discovery.  I now have little cups of it frozen in my freezer.  You soak cashews in a lot of water over night.  The next morning drain the water, and put the nuts in the food processor.  The result is delicious, and can be used in mashed potatoes, salad dressing, as cream on top of polenta, etc.  I hope to discover many more ways to use it.  Its a great dairy substitute.
MetroFresh mentioned above is a favorite restaurant of mine - amazing vegan, GF options EVERY day!!
http://www.metrofreshatl.com/