Cleaning Out the Fridge

This evening, preparing to make dinner, I opened the refrigerator.

There wasn't much there.

My thought process went something like this: should I throw on my coat, grab my umbrella, walk the 2 blocks to the market and hand over the last of my wallet's greens, or should I figure out how to make something (anything?) from my kitchen's (embarrassingly slim) ingredient list?

I glanced out the window, then at my umbrella and my rainboots, and, finally, at the negative space inside my wallet.

"Fine," I thought. "I'll make something here."

I pulled open the icebox door and went to work.

Beans.
Feta.
The tail end of a cucumber.
Butter.
Water.
Wilted green onions.
Leftover red onion.
Jam.
Polenta.

My cast of potential culinary characters staged, I began to make cuts. With a yellow-gloved hand, I composted the green onions. I decided against the butter and jam. What remained were my dinner's A-list stars: a rag-tag group of ingredients that, cooked simply and spiced properly, would become my pretty (&) tasty dinner.

I ended up dining on what I'll call Polenta a la Cannellini, a surprisingly elegant, inexpensive, delicious, hearty and healthy meal.

How can you make this at home, you ask? Read on, dear reader...

Polenta a la Cannellini


Ingredients:

• 2 slices of pre-made polenta (this can be found at Trader Joe's in the shelf-stable section)
• 1/4 of a red onion, sliced medium-thin
  
• 1/3 can of cannellini (a.k.a. white kidney beans), rinsed
• 2 tsp olive oil
  
• pinch of sea salt (I prefer the celtic grey variety)
• pinch of cumin
• pinch of thyme (use a sprig of fresh thyme if you have it; otherwise, a pinch of dried is fine)
• a chunk (to taste) of fresh feta cheese (I recommend the Israeli brand, Pastures of Eden , sold at Trader Joe's)
• cucumber, chopped into bite-size pieces (use whatever amount you desire)
• fresh-cracked black pepper
  

Spray a saute pan with non-stick spray. Over medium heat, fry the polenta slices for 5-6 minutes on each side (or until the polenta is warmed through and slightly browned on each side). Remove from pan and set aside; cover to keep warm.

Add olive oil to the pan and allow it to heat. Toss in onions; saute until the onions become slightly translucent and start to wilt. Add beans, salt, cumin, and thyme; saute until the beans heat through. Transfer from pan and place on top of the polenta.

Surround the polenta with the cucumbers. This adds some beautiful green color to your dish, and you can use any sort of green you have in the kitchen for this purpose. Spinach, for example, would also work well. Be careful not to place the cucumbers on top of the polenta; warm cucumber is not delicious.

Crumble the feta on top and crack pepper over the dish to taste.

Add fork; dig in.