Recipe

Buckwheat Polenta

Accompanying article: Healthy Diet

In the Italian Alps, where it's too cold to grow corn, buckwheat thrives and so did this hearty peasant food, black polenta. While polenta evokes images of laborious cooking and stirring, this instant version uses the whole grain (making it a more digestible and energizing dish) and yields a handsome marbled appearance.

I often make a pot of buckwheat for breakfast, enjoy one bowl as a hot cereal and turn the remaining grain into a hearty polenta (known as polenta nera, or black polenta, to the Italians). Later, lunch or dinner is as quick as frying, grilling or baking the polenta, adding a protein-rich sauce and tossing a salad.

Buckwheat Polenta
1 recipe steamed buckwheat
1/4 cup olive oil
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 small tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Place hot buckwheat into a food processor. Process until of uniform consistency. Scrape onto a platter or baking sheet and form into a block about 3/4-inch thick.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

When cool enough to handle, cut polenta into 2-inch squares. (For hors d'oeuvres, make smaller squares.) Drizzle a little olive oil over each square, cover with mozzarella, tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper and top with additional olive oil. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Serves 4.

May you be well nourished,

Rebecca Wood