A Mexican Polenta Dish

According to Jim, this was a homerun so I had to blog it! 

This was my first time trying to create something Mexican like with polenta and I must saw it was quite tasty!

First I whipped up a batch of polenta adding 1.5 cups of cornmeal to 5 cups of boiling water using a whisk while pouring to prevent clumps. If you have never made polenta before you simply stir it until the bottom of the pan is clear when you move the spoon over it. It can take approximately 15 minutes. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of the following: chili powder, salt and black pepper to spice it a little.

Then this is spooned into a 9" x 11" pan, smoothed out and left to cool. Then the oven was set to preheat at 350f.

For the topping I diced up the following:

1 yellow bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 cups of frozen corn (thawed)
3 tomatoes
a bunch of jarred jalapenos (I bet fresh would be great too but the jarred are a staple in our house. The more you use the spicier the dish will be)

Then I tossed the veggies with with approximately 3 tablespoons of avocado oil along with 1/2 teaspoon of each of the following: chili powder, cumin, salt and black pepper. Once the veggies were evenly coated they were spread onto the polenta.

Lastly I covered this with tons of shredded cheddar cheese. Then baked for 30 minutes (broiling the last 2 minutes or so to brown the cheese).

This is a fun one to play around with ingredients. No measuring required except for the polenta! I tossed black beans over the leftovers making a great addition.

Well I hope I have inspired you to try something new in the kitchen. Thank you for stopping by! ~Val