In other countries, with functioning federal governments, coronavirus cases are few and lockdown restrictions are easing. Friends in Australia have told me about hugging their mothers, making pasta with friends, and throwing dinner parties. From my vantage point in D.C., it is tantalizing and maddening to see this alternate reality– to know that hugs and friends and meals could have been ours now, too, if only our government had its act together.
Instead, I’m still in my apartment, socializing through screens, canceling summer plane tickets, and planning my meals two weeks in advance to minimize trips to the grocery store (and contact with other human beings).
I’m so fortunate to have a job and to have enough to eat. The biggest challenge, food-wise, is figuring out how to get enough vegetables in my diet: a lot of veg keep for one week in the fridge, but two weeks can be a push.
Enter this easy polenta recipe. I’ve been making this polenta recipe with spinach, peas, and goat cheese for years. In our quarantined times, I’ve simply swapped out the fresh spinach and peas for their frozen counterparts. The frozen veg keep in the freezer forever. And the results are exactly the same: a creamy polenta, topped with braised spinach and peas mixed through with goat cheese and plenty of lemon zest.
Don’t like peas? Feel free to substitute for mushrooms (polenta with spinach and mushrooms is a classic combination; just sauté the mushrooms before the spinach and maybe add a bit of thyme) or any other quick-cooking vegetable. Don’t like goat cheese? Throw in some gorgonzola, ricotta, or feta.
If only things weren’t this bad. But while we’re here: let’s cook.
Previously:
One year ago: How to Keep Asparagus Fresher, Longer
Two years ago: Mexico City Food Guide (travel, sigh)
Three years ago: How to Reduce the Bite of Red Onions
Four years ago: Muesli with Nuts, Dried Fruit, and Coconut
And for my Australians:
Six months ago: Orecchiette with Kale, Bacon, and Sun-dried Tomatoes
One and a half years ago: The Best Way to Freeze Bacon
Two and a half years ago: Roasted Eggplant with Buttermilk-Yogurt Dressing and Pomegranate Seeds
Three and a half years ago: Five-Hour, Three-Meat Ragù
Polenta with Spinach, Peas, and Goat Cheese
6
servingsWarm, comforting polenta makes the perfect bed for braised spinach and peas, tangy goat cheese, and zingy lemon zest in this easy, healthy spring recipe.
Ingredients
9 cups (2.13ml) water
2 cups (280g) coarse cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (28g) butter
Olive oil, for sautéing
6 garlic cloves, sliced
4 small leeks (12oz/340g trimmed), thinly sliced
24 ounces (680g) spinach (frozen and defrosted or fresh)
2 1/2 cups (365g) peas (frozen or fresh and quickly blanched)
zest and juice of one lemon (reminder to zest before you juice!)
8 ounces (227g) goat cheese
Directions
- Bring water to boil in a medium or large pot. Slowly pour in the cornmeal, whisking as you go (be careful here– this may splatter). Add salt. Bring back up to a simmer and let cook for 35-45 minutes, or until the polenta no longer has a raw taste (this will take less time if you are using a medium or fine cornmeal, and more if you are using coarse). Stir in butter and cover pot until ready to serve.
- While the polenta is cooking, heat your biggest/deepest frying pan over medium heat. Add a bit of olive oil to the pan. Add the garlic and sauté for one minute. Then add the leeks and a good pinch of salt and continue to cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the defrosted or fresh spinach to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, then add the frozen or blanched fresh peas, all of the lemon zest and juice, and half of the goat cheese and cook until heated through. (You don’t want to cook this into oblivion: it’ll taste fine, but the spinach and peas will go from a bright green to a, ahem, pea green.) Season to taste with a bit more salt. Remove from heat.
- Serve in deep plates: nestle the braised greens atop a bed of polenta and top with a bit more goat cheese. Drizzle with some decent olive oil and serve.
Notes
- Want to make polenta with spinach and mushrooms, instead? Slice your mushrooms and sauté them until slightly browned. (If you have fresh thyme, you could add it now.) Then add spinach and proceed as written, perhaps substituting a bit of good balsamic vinegar for the lemon juice.
- Store leftover polenta and stewed greens separately for up to 4 days in the fridge.
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