Pretty much, soft, creamy polenta topped with anything is delicious, and in my previous life, I used to serve a fancy three-day braised meat (in an entire bottle of wine! I mean, c’mon now) over this polenta and totally adored it. These days, we do a lot less meat and a lot more veggies, but this recipe surprised us. We expected, you know, soft polenta and earthy mushrooms, summery zucchini, herbaceous chimichurri, quick marinated tomatoes, a rich poached egg. But all together it becomes errrmagahhh summer bliss. Maybe it’s the chimichurri that ties is all together; maybe it’s the poached egg? Maybe it’s the sheer freshness of it all. Who knows! I’m not asking questions. My mouth’s way too full for any of that nonsense. What I especially love about this summer polenta bowl is that it works beautifully with pretty much any vegetables you have on hand. Okra? Check. Carrots? Do it. Kale? OK, go for it. It’s a great way to use up your farmer’s market spoils before they, uh, spoil? And of course, it’s super healthy, packed full of veggies, and can totally be made vegan (just leave out that poached egg and the optional grated cheese!). Oh, and you know how polenta is supposed to be risotto-like with the constant stirring and full hour spent bent over the saucepan, making sure everything turns out just right? Ha! This polenta takes about 18 minutes, requires only a bit of whisking, and can be made with regular, ol’ cornmeal. This dish comes together in about 30 minutes – pretty awesome, right? The recipe is less of a recipe and more of simple guidelines, aside from the actual polenta recipe, that is. Get creative with what sounds good to you and what you’ve got on hand! Let me know what killer creations you come up with.
