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Polenta with Vegetables

This would be good with any vegetables. I made it with about equal parts vegetables to polenta so it's bursting with flavor. This amount served two as a side with ham. It could definitely hold up as a fully vegetarian meal. Make it vegan by skipping the cheese and it will still be delicious!

What you need

  1. 1/2 cup stone ground polenta, fine corn meal or coarse cornmeal
  2. 2 1/2 cups water
  3. 2-3 cups finely shredded chard and kale combined
  4. 1/3 - 1/2 cup finely diced red onion
  5. 1 clove garlic, minced
  6. 6 crimini mushrooms, diced
  7. 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
  8. Olive oil
  9. Salt and Pepper
  10. 1 Tbl grated romano cheese (optional)

How to make it

  1. In a sauté pan, heat about a tablespoon of oil over medium heat
  2. Add onion with 1/2 tsp kosher salt and cook until softened
  3. Add mushrooms and cook until tender and beginning to brown
  4. Add garlic, greens and black pepper and cook until greens are wilted
  5. Cover and proceed with polenta
  6. Heat water in a saucepan to boiling over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 tsp kosher salt and whisk in polenta/cornmeal in a thin stream
  7. Continue whisking until no lumps remain, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally according to type of cornmeal (15 min for instant, 40 or so for regular). Creamy polenta is done when the mixture is very thickened. Tasting for texture is the best way to tell.
  8. Just before the end of cooking time, add the corn kernels
  9. Stir in greens/mushrooms mixture and optional grated cheese
  10. Taste for seasoning and serve hot

You can add a tiny bit of water with the greens if the pan is too hot. This is creamy style polenta which done using 5-6 cups liquid to 1 cup grain. You can increase the amounts of liquid and grain proportionally to make more servings. If you want firmer polenta, reduce the liquid/grain ratio to 3 to 1. It will also thicken as it stands.

Questions about this recipe?