I have to thank the other "Amy I," again, for introducing me to polenta. After discovering how much I like it the other day while making her Polenta Lasagna recipe, I've been wanting to use it again. This week, my Door to Door Organics order included a bunch of kale and I started searching for a way to combine the two. I've never eaten or cooked with kale so I wasn't sure how difficult it would be incorporate both of these ingredients into one meal.
Most of the recipes that I found for polenta use it kind of like rice. It's either cooked with a few other ingredients like corn and cheese or topped with a variety of veggies. I was pretty sure that I'd seen polenta grilled before on some of the many cooking shows I watch and decided to go that route using the precooked polenta that comes in the tube. My grocery store carries the Melissa's Organic Polenta and I used the original flavor. I highly recommend it!
And most of the recipes including kale had it sauteed with a few other veggies. I had some mushrooms in the fridge that I needed to use and I decided that's what I'd do- saute the kale and mushrooms.
Then I'd combine the two ideas and top my grilled polenta cakes with the kale and mushroom mixture. As this was only the second time I've cooked with polenta and I've never even tasted kale, I was was kind of going out on a limb here making up a recipe with the two. But I felt confident.
First I had to clean the kale. I had read that I needed to cut out the tough stem that runs though the middle of it. So I did that first, then I tore it into bite-sized pieces and added it to the basket of my lettuce spinner. As I was cutting out the stem I noticed how dirty the kale was, so gave it a nice long vigorous rinse while tossing the pieces with my hands. Then I gave it a couple of whirls in lettuce spinner and left it to continue drying.
For the Sauteed Kale and Mushrooms, start by grating 2 cloves of garlic into a med-low heat pan with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and a pat of butter. Let that cook for a minute or 2 and add some diced onion. I used about 1/4 of a large onion. After another couple of minutes add 14 large mushrooms that have been quartered. Here, a combination of white button and cremini mushrooms were used.
Let that cook several minutes. When the mushrooms are almost browned, pour in about 1/3 cup of beer and add the kale. At this point, you can add your seasonings. I useded some of that seasoning blend that I love from Aldi and a little extra sea salt. Then stir everything together and put a lid on it so that the beer can steam the kale for about 4 minutes.
Remove the lid and allow it to continue cooking until the beer has cooked off.
I have to tell you that in the finished product, you can really taste the beer- which I love. But if you're a not a beer lover you might want to use a wine you enjoy, some veggie broth or water to steam the kale instead.
For the delicious grilled polenta, start by spraying a little olive oil on your grill pan and heat it on medium-high. Cut the polenta into slices that are about 1/3 of an inch thick. When your grill pan is nice and hot, add the polenta cakes.
Lightly brush the side facing you with a little more olive oil and season to your liking. Again, I used the Aldi pizza and pasta seasoning.
The polenta will only need another few minutes to cook on that second side and it'll be finished.
While it was still nice and hot, I sprinkled a bit of shredded parmesan cheese on the grilled polenta.
Then I topped it with the kale mixture and added a little more parm.
Kale tastes very similar to cooked spinach- just a slightly stronger flavor. It has that nice earthy taste that you'd expect from a leafy green. If you've been brave enough, as an adult, to try cooked spinach again, and discover that it's not the devil that you thought it was, I think you'll find kale to be an easy comparison. Because bags of spinach are so easily found in my grocery store and come, conveniently, already triple washed, I'll probably use spinach instead of kale in the future. You can do that too if you have a difficult time finding kale. I'm sure it'll be just as delicious.
Grilled polenta is SO tasty and hearty, yet kind of creamy and luscious. And, it's just ridiculously easy to make when you start with the precooked stuff. So even if you're not sure if you are daring enough for kale or you think that cooked spinach is the devil, you have to find a way to work grilled polenta into a meal. You won't regret it.
The plum tomatoes made their way onto the plate because they were sitting in a strainer in one of my sinks. They were also just delivered by Door to Door Organics. I thought they'd be a nice contrasting color on the plate with the kale and polenta so I just halved them and seasoned them with salt and pepper. But as it turns out, they were THE most perfect sweet and acidic accompaniment to the dish that I just couldn't have planned anything better. A serendipitous homerun of a meal!
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