This is a re-run from February, but it is so good it is worth a reminder. This is my new favorite way to eat greens. I’m repeating the basic recipe here, with a few twists. You can see the original here. (It’s still comfort food!)
I make this with freshly ground cornmeal/polenta from Tierra Vegetable. Any will do, but I think a coarser grind gives it a nice body.
Baked Polenta
1 cup coarse ground cornmeal
1 TBSP butter, cut into pieces
1/2 Tbsp kosher salt
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
½ cup grated parmesan
This cooks in about an hour with regular cornmeal and takes about 2 hours with freshly ground cornmeal. (I was using some left from winter – and it still took two hours).
Preheat oven to 350. Combine the cornmeal with 4 cups of water in a 1 ½ quart baking dish. Add butter, salt and pepper. Stir and bake, uncovered, for 45 (or 90) minutes. Stir the polenta, add cheese and bake another 15 (or30) minutes.
Cook until the cornmeal is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving. It has a pudding like consistency that becomes more solid as it sits.
Greens
Olive oil
1 Onion, thinly sliced
1 chili pepper (I like the hot ones) – optional
3 cloves Garlic, minced
Pear, 1, small dice
Greens* – 8 – 10 cups – Washed and chopped.
Apple cider vinegar
*This time I used some mustard greens and kale (which cook for a little longer), and escarole and baby beet greens (which cooked quickly). Any combination will work. I love the bitter greens in this.
Sauté the onion in olive oil until tender (I like to sauté it long and slow to make it sweeter, often adding a little balsamic vinegar as it cooks). Add the pepper, garlic and pear towards the end and then stir in the greens. Sprinkle with a little apple cider vinegar, then cover and let it steam for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
If the greens are moist from washing, that might be enough liquid – if it looks dry you can add a little vegetable broth. Depending on which greens you choose and how tender you like them, the greens will only take 10 – 20 minutes. Add quick cooking greens at the end.
Serve the greens on the polenta.
Even though the polenta takes awhile to cook, it only takes about 5 minutes to mix it and pop it into the oven. So it really is an easy meal, and it is such a delicious way to eat a BIG serving of greens.
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