spinach & basil polenta.

today is my last day of the master cleanse. well, technically. there is a 3 day "breaking" period. so basically i can eat my regular food again on the 26th of this month. besides that i have been super sad about not being in the kitchen as much. the fast was fantastic, but i am ready to eat again!

i threw together this recipe yesterday. i NEEDED to cook something, but with my pantry pretty bare i didn't have much to work with. so this brings us to polenta. this is such a cheap food to make it is almost silly. with this recipe you can make firm polenta to slice and fry or bake, or you can serve it creamy. both ways are great. since i won't be eating this for a while, i opted for firm. this recipe freezes well. just cut into squares or slices (or however you prefer), wrap in foil and store in storage containers in the freezer!

spinach & basil polenta.
ingredients:
9 cups water
1 tbsp salt
2 cups cornmeal
4 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 tbsp earth balance (or other vegan margarine)
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 cup spinach, chopped and packed

instructions:
1.) in a large pot, bring water to a boil. add salt and reduce heat to medium. when the water is simmering add the cornmeal slowly and stir continuously with a whisk. keep stirring to prevent lumps.
2.) add pressed garlic, margarine, basil, nutritional yeast and chopped spinach. stir!
3.) let simmer while stirring vigorously (no lumps!), about 12 minutes.
4.) serve as is or pour into a baking pan and let firm up, then slice and serve (or wrap up and freeze).