Polenta Grilled Cheese

There's really no cute or cool story for how I came to make this recipe. We are running low on food, which used to be fine when we didn't have kids. But with Ada eating more and more each day, when I'm out of stuff -- I need to get very creative if I can't make it to the grocery store.

C'mon, mom. I'm hungry!

One of Ada's favorite foods right now is cheese. She likes cubed cheddar with her other favorite food: grapes. She also likes American, which we never used to buy until we got desperate during her recent solids strike. Thankfully, we had a few slices left. No bread, though.

So, while we ate the last of our eggs at breakfast, I made some polenta.


POLENTA GRILLED CHEESE

What you'll need . . .

• 1 cup polenta 
• 3 cups water 
• Pinch salt 
• Cheese of your choice 
• Earth Balance or butter 

Method . . . 

1. Bring water to a boil, then toss in polenta and whisk for several minutes, until thickened. Cook for a couple more minutes and then take off heat. 
2. Generously grease an 8" x 8" baking dish. Pour polenta into it and smooth it out, distributed evenly.
3. Let chill for at least 4 hours. 
4. Then -- using a sharp knife -- cut out squares or rectangles from your chilled polenta. Carefully cut your piece in half through the middle, so it'll be like bread for the cheese. 
5. Place a slice or two or cheese in between the pieces of polenta. 
6. Cook over medium-high heat on a pan (I greased mine first with Earth Balance) until polenta is brown and cheese is bubbly. 
7. Slice and enjoy.

I made a small "sandwich" for Ada.


And a larger one for myself.


Crisis averted. I don't love American cheese, but it actually tasted good. OK. It tasted amazing, and I'm embarrassed to admit that. Just imagine how incredible it will be with cheddar or pepper jack!

Almost as good as the Polenta Pizza w/ Roasted Veggies we made a few months ago, too.


Happy birthday, Ada Mae! (And happy Friday to the rest of you!)


You can see some gorgeous photos, if I do say so myself, I took for the occasion over on Writing Chapter Three today. Now I'm off to do some last-minute party planning before tomorrow's big bash.

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Polenta Pizza

Before I get to the recipe, I forget if I told you what Stephen got me for our anniversary. Actually, I think I mentioned it on Writing Chapter Three. Or maybe here. Sigh -- I don't remember.

Either way: I am obsessed with our Sodastream Fizz machine.

Most people like it for the at-home soda-making. I just like the water. Lots and lots of sparkling water. I was buying bottles of the stuff almost daily. So, this has helped kick that habit. I wonder how long it will take us to break even.

Feast your eyes on that bubbly goodness!

This incredible -- seriously, it's THAT good -- polenta pizza recipe came about because I have had bad case of bread-fatigue. I don't know how it happened because I usually eat A LOT of bread. But yesterday when Stephen suggested making another huge sandwich, I just couldn't do it.

So, we made this instead.


POLENTA PIZZA WITH ROASTED VEGGIES

What you'll need for the crust . . .

• 4 cups water 
• 1/2 cup coarse cornmeal 
• 1/2 cup bulghur wheat*
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

 *Note: Alternatively, you could use another 1/2 cup cornmeal in place of the bulghur wheat. We just didn't have any in the pantry.


Method . . . 

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Generously oil a glass 9" x 13" baking sheet. Set aside.
2. Boil the water on the stove. Add in the cornmeal and bulghur wheat. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring almost constantly until most water is absorbed.
3. Then take off heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and add the salt and pepper.
4. Let sit for a few minutes to thicken, then pour into your prepared baking dish. Spread evenly.
5. Spritz with a little more olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes.

Notes on making the pizza:

• Keep oven on 400 degrees F. Once you've pre-baked your crust, you can add your toppings as you normally would.
• You can top the pizza with plain sauce and mozzarella cheese. 
• We opted for pre-roasted veggies -- purple onion, chocolate peppers, yellow squash, and garlic -- and shredded cheddar cheese. Instead of sauce, we spread some chopped basil. 
• Whatever you do, bake for another 20 minutes and crank up to broil for a couple minutes so everything gets browned and bubbly.
• Let cool for a few minutes. Eat right away, though I most enjoyed mine the next morning for breakfast!

Today on Writing Chapter Three, we're sharing some of our favorite links discovered via Pinterest. I spend way too much time on there these days!

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Peppery Polenta Bites

Thing about that ratatouille recipe is that it doesn't fill us up on its own. That's why I made up these peppery polenta bites to accompany dinner. They were definitely an afterthought. We hadn't made polenta in a while, so I mixed up a batch because I thought it'd go well with all the veggies. Then Ada got fussy/tired/cranky right when I was about to pour it into a large baking dish and chill in the fridge. Her impending nap meant I had some more time to put it into our mini-muffin tin.

(My life is exciting, right?)

Anyway, if you haven't made polenta before, it's quite easy. 

PEPPERY POLENTA BITES

What you'll need . . .

• 4 cups water 
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal 
• Pinch of salt 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 

 Method . . . 

1. Just add the salt to the water and bring to a boil.
2. Turn heat down to a simmer and whisk in the cornmeal 1/4 cup at a time. Stir vigorously to prevent lumps and bumps. 
3. Add in the olive oil and keep stirring for around 5 minutes.
4. Then pour into a baking dish -- in this case, a mini muffin tin -- and chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

All you need to do to make them crispy and peppery is to preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Spritz a baking sheet with olive oil. Then place your chilled polenta bites on the sheet. Spritz each with a bit of olive oil and then generously top with pepper. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes -- until crisp. Serve with dipping sauce of your choice. Or ratatouille goes great with them, too!

In other news, I finally bought a new pair of running shoes last night. For the first time in a year, in fact -- and I desperately needed them. I don't pay attention anymore to the specific mileage guidelines for when to get rid of shoes. Instead, I take each run as it comes and evaluate how my legs feel afterward.

These shoes felt dead these past couple weeks.


I tried on many different shoes, as a few of you wrote me to say the Nike Run + 2 and + 3 didn't feel the same as the type I'm used to. Stephen had me try on the Brooks Pure Connect (my heel felt so wobbly and lower than my toes -- didn't like it at ALL!), Saucony's Kinvara (eh...), and a few other more minimal types.

I tried on the Run + 2s and HATED them. Something about the decorative side plastic-y things didn't feel right on my feet. But when I slipped my foot into the +3s, I fell in love. Too bad the store only had the most obnoxious, neon color known to man. I edited to to mute it out. If you have sunglasses handy, here's the true color.


OK. Secretly -- and I guess now NOT-SO secretly -- I enjoy having a really bright, loud shoe. Makes me feel like I'll seem faster than I actually am when I lace up at races. I completed my first run in them yesterday (a blustery 5.5-miler) and they were glowing. But so was I. I get so anxious switching models of my favorite shoes. I've had bad experiences in the past, but I think I'm in the clear with this one. (PS: Thanks to the ladies who wrote me to help with making up my mind!)

Oh, yeah! And with several coupons and store credits (from using the store's loyalty card), I didn't spend the $100 retail price. Closer to $60. Nice.

Today on Writing Chapter Three I wrote a longer-than-it-needed-to-be post about our toy storage and cleaning situation. I'd love for fellow parents to let me know what they do to wrangle all their loot. My entire house looks like this one corner does right now.

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Basic Homemade Polenta

Polenta is another one of those foods (much like seitan) we file under the "Stephen Specialty" category. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of biting into this treat, polenta is made from ground cornmeal, which is boiled in water and ultimately creates a grits-like porridge. When you refrigerate it, it hardens, and you can then use it in a variety of dishes -- including as a substitute for pizza crust! -- but we like it best lightly fried and in stir-fry.

Polenta is most typically made with a medium- or coarsely-ground cornmeal. So, if you plan to make this dish yourself, walk past the finely-ground varieties. Though the fine stuff can indeed be used to make polenta, its texture is off and its flavor suffers.


BASIC VEGAN POLENTA

What you'll need . . .

• 1 cup soy milk (or other substitute)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup medium- or coarsely-ground cornmeal
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Method . . .

1. In a medium pot, stir together water and milk substitute. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. When you reach a boil, whisk in cornmeal. Bring heat down to a simmer. And stir until the mixture thickens (about 5 minutes).
3. Remove from the heat and stir in nutritional yeast. Add the salt and pepper. Stir.
4. Pour polenta onto a large plate or into a baking dish. Transfer to the refrigerator and let sit for 1 hour, until hardened.

To make the dish you see above, we simply made the polenta and then in a separate pan, took some slices onion and cooked it in a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat until glassy. Then we added a bunch of baby bok choy and set aside once all warmed. In another pan we lightly fried squares of the polenta until golden brown. Then put everything in the pan together and tossed with a mixture of balsamic vinegar and agave (or honey just to sweeten a bit). Added slices of avocado. And, really, that's all. The combinations are endless!


ALSO check out this month's Blog Love Fest. It's a special edition because we're not only sharing the links in a list this month. We're creating a categorized blogLOVEroll. For all the gooey details, just visit the BLF post.

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Very Veggie Polenta Stir-Fry

I know I've mentioned it before, but I've been vegetarian for just over 14 years now (over half my life!), and I was vegan for several years during college. Then, after graduation, two things happened to get me off track.

1.) I moved back home for several months while I searched for a job. Few, if any, people in my hometown even know what vegetarians eat -- let alone what vegan even means! Many grocery stores didn't carry essential staples, etc. In fact my own dad this weekend asked me (because we were out to eat), "Ash, you can eat chicken, right?" Uh. No. Sorry, dad. But he means well :)

But this also works into the second thing that happened.

2.) I got lazy.

I've always been into cooking and baking on some level. Usually into baking much more. However, taking time to create healthy, unique, VEGAN dinners has proven to be an incredibly satisfying experience. And Stephen and I are definitely benefiting from it.

For now -- one of my favorite and fast vegan dishes is this polenta stir-fry. It's low in fat, combines simple flavors, and, at least in my experience, is a crowd-pleaser. Even non-vegetarians like it . . . so that's always a good thing! This recipe serves up two generous helpings of the stuff. Feel free to double it, triple it, etc.


What you'll need . . .

• 1/2 to 3/4 log of pre-made polenta (cut into 1/4 inch thick slices -- and use how much you want to use)
• 1 large tomato
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 large red onion
• Olive oil

For sauce . . .

• Balsamic Vinegar
• Raspberry jam
• Honey (if you don't eat honey, use a bit of your favorite sweetner)
• Ground black pepper

Method . . .

1. Chop the onion, zucchini, and tomato into large chunks.
2. Cut polenta into slices.
3. Heat oil in a wok or large fry pan until hot.
4. Throw in the rounds of polenta into the pan and carefully cook (they get soft -- so flip them gently) until lightly browned on each side.
5. In another, smaller pan, throw in the onion and zucchini. Cook until just soft, but not mushy. You want a slight bit of crispness.
6. Once veggies are soft, turn off heat and throw in tomato. Mix together until warmed.
7. Divide veggies onto two plates and top with equal rounds of polenta.
8. Mix the balsamic vinegar, raspberry jam, and a bit of honey to taste to create a thin, sweet sauce.
9. Drizzle sauce over each dish. Top with pepper to taste.
10. Enjoy!

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