Polenta

I think I may have given the pink slip to some of my naughtier starchy side dishes. This is your basic polenta that you can either keep plain or build on. I love using this as a side dish now. You can do so much with it, it is delicious, and filling! I never knew how easy and fast polenta was to make. You can even make it ahead of time. Which I did, because I wanted to make sure I had nice firm cakes for grilling or pan frying. I even had one of these as a snack with a bit of mint sauce on top. YUM! I love these little cakes and can’t wait to bring them out for grilling season.

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1.5 cup broth (any will do, I used chicken)
• 1.5 cup water
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp italian spice blend

1. Combine the broth, water, and seasonings in a small pot.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat to low and add the cornmeal. Stir constantly. The polenta will form up quite quickly. It is done when it is thick enough to pull away from the bottom of the pot.
4. Pour into 6 jumbo muffin cups or 12 regular sized ones and smooth.
5. Allow to cool. Refrigerate atleast 30 minutes or overnight. Reheat before serving by either pan frying until slightly golden or grilling.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving contains 77 calories, .9 gram of fat, 1.5 grams of fibre, 16 grams of carbs, and 1.9 grams of protein. My favourite part of these has to be when you panfry them just right, they get this crunchy crust and the inside is nice and creamy. Yum! A superb side dish.