Robin’s Healthy Take: Tubed Polenta, Two Ways by Robin Miller in Robin's Healthy Take, March 16, 2012
- Grilled Polenta With Creamed Spinach
Ever seen those tubes of pre-cooked polenta in the store and thought, “Cool, but what the heck would I do with that?” Prepared polenta is your best “kitchen buddy” because you can skip the time-consuming process of making polenta from scratch AND you get a cornmeal-based dish with dozens of options. Think of polenta as a creative, fiber-rich alternative to your traditional starch – pasta, rice, potatoes, bread. Since tubed polenta is pre-cooked, you simply slice and reheat by sauteing, grilling, roasting, broiling or even microwaving. Once the slices are tender on the inside and caramelized on the outside, top them with just about anything – your favorite sauce, vegetable, meat, seafood and/or cheese. You can even use cubes of polenta in vegetarian recipes that call for tofu. Check out my recipes below: In the first, the polenta is grilled and topped with Parmesan-spiked creamed spinach and the second is seared and then topped with Caprese-style toppings. Got fun ideas of your own? Send them my way!
