New Bases for Delicious Meals!

This month I got really gutsy and decided to try a few new bases for meals that I had read about (and maybe eaten at a restaurant), but never made. These are new to us! My other favorite bases: pasta, of course; couscous; rice; and even mashed potatoes. We love making a simple onion/pepper mix, or a meat with a thick sauce, or even just opening a can of Chunky stew, and serving it over one of these bases. The possibilities are endless - use what you have and like! The slow cooker is a great way to make your topping, too! Now, without further ado, our newest delicious bases:

Polenta: Pan Fried

Polenta is basically just cooked corn meal, but you can buy it already cooked,in a tube, like this:

I did have some trouble finding polenta in a tube, but finally found it at HyVee. I'm sure any specialty or health food store would have it. To pan fry, just slice up the polenta from the tube, coat in cooking spray (Pam), and toss on a skillet on the stove. They did take longer to brown up than I expected them to, but that was good because I knew they were really heated and cooked through. We tried both plain and flavored, and both were delicious.

Our topping for pan fried polenta:
Italian sausage (removed from the casing), onion, red pepper, garlic and tomatoes

Polenta: Creamy

So, since polenta is just cooked corn meal, the other way to make it is by cooking corn meal! I used a recipe and instructions from thekitchn.com and it was great! Super easy to follow and doesn't make you stir for 40 minutes straight. I will note that I don't think I stirred quite long enough at the beginning, because I got some of the polenta stuck to the bottom of the pan, and it was very hard to clean off. So stir a little longer than you think you need to, and if you do get it stuck to the bottom of the pan, make sure to get it in water to soak when you're done cooking! I tried the cooked polenta before adding the butter and cheese at the end, and I would say it's nothing to write home about, but with the mix-ins and the topping, it was wonderful!

Our topping for creamy polenta:

Pulled pork (we made a big batch awhile back and had some frozen, but use whatever meat you have), sweet peppers (green, red, etc), onion, garlic, and fajita seasoning (cumin, chili powder, paprika)

Risotto

Last, but certainly not least - one of my new favorite foods of all time - Risotto! Risotto is a creamy rice, and while it is a little time consuming, it was not difficult, and totally worth the time! I again used a recipe and instructions from thekitchn.com, which were wonderfully easy to follow. You do need a special kind of rice for risotto - I got Arborio. I found it in the specialty food section of my local HyVee. It wasn't on the shelf - I had to get it from the dispenser things. Also, to me, the parmesan is a must for this recipe - it's the perfect finishing touch!

Instead of a topping for our risotto, we mixed in cubed acorn squash from the farmer's market during the first step with the onions. It was perfect with the parmesan and creaminess of the rice.

Now go!! Make something new tonight!!