Roasted Vegetable Salsa with Grilled Polenta Cakes

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled eggplant (about 1 medium)
• 2 cups (1-inch) cubed red bell pepper (about 1 medium)
• 1 1/2 cups (1-inch) pieces onion (about 1 medium)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 whole garlic head
• 2 cups (1-inch) pieces seeded tomato (about 2 medium)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1 (17-ounce) tube refrigerated polenta, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. 2. Place eggplant, bell pepper, and onion in a single layer on a large jelly-roll pan. Drizzle vegetables with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. 3. Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Cut off pointed end of garlic head 1/4 inch from top. Wrap garlic in foil, and place on pan. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes. (Do not stir vegetables.)
4. 4. Stir tomato into vegetables, and bake an additional 10 minutes or until vegetables are beginning to brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes.
5. 5. Unwrap garlic. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract pulp into a food processor. Discard skins. Add roasted vegetables, lemon rind, and next 3 ingredients to garlic pulp; pulse 12 times or until chunky, scraping sides of bowl once. Set aside.
6. 6. While vegetables bake, heat a cast-iron grill pan over high heat 4 minutes. While pan heats, pat polenta slices dry with paper towels; coat both sides with cooking spray. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add polenta slices, in batches, to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until thoroughly heated and scored with grill marks. Remove from pan; keep warm.
7. 7. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons salsa over each polenta cake, reserving remaining salsa for another use. Serve warm.