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
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.
Nice, Ken! I do love me some polenta. I found a great brand (the name escapes me at the moment) of the tasty treat that includes quinoa in addition to cornmeal - a great alternative for anyone with corn sensitivities.
ReplyDeleteSo excited you've started this blog! Keep the pretty, tasty, and budget-conscious recipes comin' - I'm spreading the word!
good job! I feel the same way about my fridge on a daily basis... today it will be rice... with some type of soy sauce and hopefully chicken!
ReplyDeleteOh I'm so glad you're doing this! I will add my faorite recipe froma similar realization that I had very few food stuffs in the house:
ReplyDeleteNasty Avo-Bean Mush Sandwich
1/2 avocado, mashed, day too old
4 oz. cannellini, mashed
2 slices of of whole wheat bread
salt and pepper to taste (unless you really do not want to taste, at all)
Best when eaten in an airport. You are likely to wonder, "Dear God, why did I make this? I'm buying a $15 sandwich, instead."
Liza: Thanks for the advice about the polenta! For other readers, the brand referred to is called Zerto. I'll let you all know when I've tried it!
ReplyDeletedisregardtripe: Thanks so much! I actually just came across a recipe for a chicken, garlic, and soy stew that looks delicious, courtesy of Mark Bittman (a fabulous food blogger for the NY Times). Blogspot.com won't let me post the link, but you can find the recipe in the archives of nytimes.com. Bittman's blog, fittingly, is called "Bitten."
Amanda: It sounds like that recipe makes a better anecdote than sandwich! For the future, here is another way to combine those ingredients (assuming you have nothing else besides pantry-goods in the house):
Chop the avocado into chunks and combine with half the can of cannellini (rinsed and drained) in a bowl. Add about 2 tsp of olive oil, toss to coat, and add salt and pepper to taste.
As for the bread, you could either toast it or, even better, turn that crusty old bread into tasty croutons. Cut the bread into cubes, brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss onto a baking sheet. Toast in the oven at about 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes (or until golden brown). Once done, remove the croutons from the oven and allow them to cool. Add the croutons to the avocado and bean salad, and top the whole thing with a little balsamic vinegar and freshly chopped rosemary.
Toss and serve.
Add fork; dig in.