Black Beans over Crispy Polenta (No Added Fat)

I was thinking of making a black bean dish and wanted to integrate polenta, which I had in stock prepared as a tube. Originally, I was thinking of chopping the polenta and mixing it in, but my daughter was talking about crispy polenta, so I decided to cook the polenta separately on a cast iron pan. I had some beans leftover from a few days ago, so didn't have to prepare them again in my Instant Pot. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 cup prepared black beans
• 1/2 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes
• 2 cloves garlic finely (1/8") minced
• 1/4 cup roasted or fresh bell pepper cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1/2 of a small (14.5 ounce) can of stewed or other tomato
• 1/4 t (or to taste) salt
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 8 ounces of polenta cut into 3/8" discs
• (optional) few extra pieces of onion

Process

1. I started heating the beans, onion, garlic, bell pepper, canned diced tomato, and salt on low.
2. I wiped a little bit of canola oil on a cast iron pan as it heated on medium heat; about half a minute later, I wiped the oil with a paper towel, leaving a light coating on the pan (I wanted crispy polenta), then put the polenta on the pan. I cooked it, flipping occasionally, and adding the onion a few minutes into the cooking.
3. When the polenta was crispy, I served it with the onion, and put the beans (first mixing in oregano) atop.

A bagel half with tomato and olive, plus a baby bell pepper, completed the meal.

Results

Dinner was good!

Ideas for the future

I should make crispy polenta dishes more often. Capers, olives, fresh tomato, tomato sauce, basil, cashew "cheese" sauce, and many other foods could go well with polenta.