Mexican Polenta (No Added Fat)

A local startup called The Purple Carrot is trying out a great idea. They will deliver refrigerated boxes with all needed ingredients and a large color recipe card with a photograph of the dish for low fat plant-based meals. I'm helping in a trial run, and received a box yesterday with three dishes. I made one tonight, Mexican Polenta Bowl. It is from Dr. Mary Clifton and Tess Challis' book Get Waisted. I let the polenta get fairly firm, so was able to serve it on a plate and not in a bowl.

I have never made polenta from scratch. Today I did! I don't think I should repeat the recipe as I don't see it on the Get Waisted website, but let me describe their polenta.This recipe calls for combining a cup of dry polenta with 4T nutritional yeast, 1t sea salt, and 4 cloves of minced garlic. 4 cups of water are put in a large stock pot, then the polenta mixture is slowly added while constantly stirring with a whisk. Then the pan is heated over medium high while still constantly stirring and brought to a boil. It is then simmered, again while stirring, on low heat for 3-5m till the polenta is thick.

It was almost magical how the polenta, initially so liquidy, came together suddenly, it seemed. The dish came out great, and I love the idea of the business!

The polenta is served topped with tomato, green onion, black beans, a bit of lime juice, jalapeno, avocado, and cilantro. It was great!

If nothing else, tonight's dinner unlocked in me the desire to cook with polenta. I've used prepared polenta tubes, but I see now that they have just a shadow of the flavor that polenta can have. Sauteed mushrooms would go great with a polenta dish like this, as would salsa. I loved the fresh vegetables atop the polenta in this dish. Some fresh uncooked corn kernels would be good. For my daughter, I might add a bit of vegan cheese on top, as well. Crispy seitan, maybe lime marinated jerk seasoned, would be great with a dish like this in the future. This dish is a winner!