Polenta - Healthy Corn Meal

Polenta is originally an Italian dish and is one of the staple foods of Italians. This has helped me giving a rescue in hitting my head against searching a healthy as well as tasty interesting menu. It is a wonderful dish that goes with breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees and it can be served hot or cold, soft or hard making it one the most versatile foods.

Polenta is coarsely or finely ground yellow or white corn meal. It is cooked by boiling to a paste in water or a liquid such as soup stock , and may be eaten with other ingredients. After boiling, it may be baked, fried or grilled; leftover polenta is often used this way. As is common with many foods, the term may refer to the ingredient or a cooked dish made with it (as with rice, beans, etc.).

Even though corn is one of the healthiest, low calorie foods – it’s a good idea to rotate and mix polenta with other vegetables. Note: today’s corn is almost entirely genetically modified – so polenta MUST come from an organic source or (potentially) suffer the health consequences.

The flavoring you use will determine how the polenta will be used at the dinner table. You can try some herbs and spices like basil leaves, corriander or parsley leaves , garlic buds and chilies .

Ingredients:

Corn - 1 cup measure

Water - 3 1/2 cups measure

Salt - 1 tspn

Optional :

Chili flakes - 1 1/2 tspn

Course black pepper powder - 1/2 tspn

Cream cheese - 1 tspn

Butter - 2 tspn

Garlic buds - 2

Red chilies - 2

 Method:

1. Measure 3 cups of water for 1 cup of corn and keep on stove.

2. When the water starts boiling , mix 1/2 cup of water to 1 cup of corn powder and this to boiling water.

3. Keep stirring the mixture until it gets little thick consistency.Add salt to taste and keep it closed with lid until it is cooked.

4. Once cooked , change it to another container.

5. Cover this container and keep refrigerated for 4 - 5 hours before using.

After few hours of refrigeration m you can make wonderful dishes with this like polenta fritters, Baked polenta, Pancakes etc..

Additions to the above recipe is add all the optional ingredients while adding salt to add spices and flavors, along with fried garlic buds with red chilies

An irresistible combination and classic Mediterranean dish consists of chickpeas, roasted eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, on sliced polenta topped off with mozzarella cheese plus your favorite tomato sauce over the baked polenta or pancakes will serve a full healthy meal.