Before making this dish, I had never cooked or eaten polenta. Honestly, I had no desire – I thought it was a boring vegetarian food, high in calories in carbs. It is vegetarian, and it is high in carbs… but it’s not as high in calories as I previously thought, and it doesn’t have to be boring! It’s one of those wonderful foods with endless possibilities – it can take on multiple flavors, and even textures! Immediately after cooking, it has a mashed potato-like consistency. But place it in a baking dish in your refrigerator for a few hours and you’ll get something resembling yellow brownies.
If you’ve never tried polenta – you need to! I loved this dish and polenta has become a new pantry staple for me.
And for those of you wondering, “WTF is polenta?”… it’s just cornmeal!
(You’ll need to plan ahead and prepare the polenta either in the morning or the day before)
Polenta Wedges with Asparagus and Mushrooms
adapted from Everyday Food, January/February 2010
1 cup instant polenta
4 cups water
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
coarse salt and ground black pepper
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 pound asparagus, trimmed
To make the polenta:
Bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil. Gradually pour in 1 cup instant polenta, stirring continuously for about 3 minutes. Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight – you can even do it days in advance. (To boost the flavor of your polenta, you may use milk or chicken broth – or both – instead of salted water. The original recipe used a combination – try 1 cup skim milk + 3 cups chicken broth)
prepared polenta
Once the polenta is ready:
1. Heat broiler and position the rack 5 inches from the heat. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add broth and cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir in milk and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
starting to cook the mushrooms
2. Place a rimmed baking sheet in oven to heat. Slice polenta into wedges; pat dry with a paper towel and spray with cooking spray. Spray asparagus with cooking spray.
preparing the polenta and asparagus
3. Carefully remove hot baking sheet from oven. Place asparagus on one half and place polenta on the other. Season both with salt and pepper.
before going into the oven
4. Broil until polenta is golden brown and asparagus is crisp-tender, about 6 minutes, rotating sheet and tossing asparagus about halfway through.
5. Serve polenta wedges with asparagus and mushrooms.
finished dish
Serves 4
1 serving = 4 Weight Watchers points
calories:224
fat: 4.5g (0.9g sat)
carbs: 39.1g
fiber: 4.5g
sugar: 4.8g
protein: 9.5g
That was way too vegetarian and low-calorie for Stas, so I didn’t make him eat it. Instead, I took a portion of the prepared polenta and pan-fried it in vegetable oil. I served it with sliced flank steak:
fried polenta
They look like Twinkies, don’t they?!
fried polenta and steak
Polenta always reminds me of mannaya kasha (cream of wheat)–same texture and taste. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s weird eating it with savory foods instead of for breakfast with jam and butter.
My husband said the same thing! He didn’t like it much – for that very reason!