Parmesan Polenta with Spinach

I had never made polenta from scratch before. Turns out I have no idea what I was waiting for- it is cheap, pretty quick, and simple. I mixed freshly grated parmesan, salt and fresh ground pepper, and a little extra butter into the mixture, but otherwise just stuck to the directions on the package.

I served it topped with a little bit of cooked spinach and onions, and had a healthy, flavorful lunch.

A few simple ingredients: corn meal (polenta/grits) butter, salt, and parmesan cheese. Also water, but I didn't photograph that part.

Have you made polenta before? All you have to do is combine coarsely ground corn meal (polenta) with salted water, and cook over steady heat while stirring until it becomes thick. After stirring in butter, grated cheese (if you wish), tranfer the mixture into an oiled shallow bowl and let it cool.

After some time to set, invert the bowl onto a plate to reveal your formed (firm) polenta.

I then decided to cut it into cubes, and pan fry them for a little crunch and browned edges.

As I mentioned above I served this with my basic go to vegetable side- wilted spinach. I simply cooked some onion and garlic in olive oil, added in the spinach until it had just wilted, and seasoned with salt, black pepper, red chili pepper flakes, and an additional sprinkle of shaved parmesan.

I can already tell this will become a go to lunch for me- I even took the leftovers in to work the next day and ate it again. Next up I will have to play around with making creamy polenta. Maybe shrimp and grits? I can't wait.

Peanut Butter Flax Seed Cookies

I noticed a product at Trader Joe's recently which intrigued me: natural peanut butter with flax seeds. I started wondering what peanut butter cookies baked with this product would be like. High in omega 3s, for one thing, and doesn't everyone need more of that? Studies have suggested that Omega 3 may do everything from prevent cancer to improve mood and lessen depression. Who wouldn't want all that? And in the form a crunchy little peanut butter cookie?  Also, these cookies are gluten free, so hey, you can even make them for your gluten intolerant friends you never know what to bake for...unless of course they are also allergic to peanuts.



The recipe for these cookies seems to be popping up everywhere. My cousin had a picture book when we were young in which (I believe) a little mouse made these cookies, and the book included the recipe. I have been making simple peanut butter cookies like this ever since, but unfortunately have no memory of what the book was called, and my google searching comes up empty.

I simply substituted flax seed peanut butter for regular, and kept the recipe the same: 1 part peanut butter (crunchy is best) 1 part sugar (I used raw cane sugar) 1 egg. The dough will be thick and rather greasy. Roll it into small balls, place on a lined baking sheet, and then flatten the dough balls with a fork, leaving the classic imprint shape. I sprinkled some raw cane sugar over the top before baking. Bake 10-12 minutes in a 375 degree oven, let cool, then enjoy!

Peanut Butter Flax Seed Cookies:
1 cup flax seed crunchy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg 
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract