polenta

Well, it's day two of being unemployed, and I have absolutely no clue how I've made it even this far alive. Very little has changed since yesterday; the daylight still burns when it touches my skin and I'm still wearing the ratty bathrobe I thought I would be able to put away for good eight months ago. In honor of the much-worse-than-expected case of mental incontinence I seem to be experiencing, we're gonna dub this current round of culinary merriment #DepressionWeek to help make light of this crippling sadness I feel and get me back into the swing of things.

On our agenda today: polenta, grandma-style, with a colorful tomato bruschetta right on top. This is one of my favorites for many reasons, the most important two being that A. it's cheap and B. the polenta freezes well, which is certainly good news for me personally. We're gonna be flyin' frugal for the time being, at least until my unemployment checks start to kick in.

Oh, man. All this talk of government aid is really starting to bum me out. I'm gonna write up an ingredient list to get my mind off of it.

for the polenta:

one cup of polenta

three cups of water

two tablespoons of olive oil

four tablespoons of nutritional yeast

two tablespoons of salt

one tablespoon of pepper

for the bruschetta:

one quarter of a tomato

one clove of garlic

fresh basil

olive oil

salt

pepper

This isn't making me feel better at all. I have no fucking idea what I'm doing with my life.

Salt the water. Get it boiling and add your cornmeal in. Stick your spatula in there as soon as this stuff hits the water; you're pretty much stuck stirring from this point on until the pot comes off of the heat. I've ruined many a polenta in my time by not scraping the bottom meticulously enough; I refuse to screw up another.

Once it stops looking like crap and starts looking delicious, toss in the olive oil, nooch, salt, and pepper. Keep it moving for another minute and then remove from the stove.

A lot of people would stop right here and just dollop it onto your plate like gruel, but not us. Grease down a pie dish with some olive oil. This next step is gonna blow your mind.

You ever have a cornmeal pie before? Not sure how authentic this technique is, but it makes for an unforgettable meal. Smooth 'er out on top and sprinkle on another pinch of black pepper and nutritional yeast. Into the oven it goes at 350° for twenty-seven minutes or until the top starts to turn golden brown.

This shot is making me so food-horny. I fucking love polenta. The little crusty bits are harbingers of good times to come.

Dice your tomato into large cubes. Mince the garlic finely and chiffonade the basil into dainty, luxurious ribbons.

Toss it around in the olive oil, salt, and pepper. As if by magic, you've got yourself a god damn bruschetta. Suddenly, life doesn't seem so fucking bad.

This dish is an excellent way to carb up before a workout; it's light, bright, and won't weigh you down. Ready to eat in minutes, and much more sustaining than a mere smoothie.

I got you started here, but the truth is you can top polenta with just about anything: pasta, vegetables, you name it. Hell, you could even make a sweet breakfast version with soymilk, nuts, and fruit. I was toying with the idea of doing something like that in addition to this version but I ended up running out of pots and pans.

#DepressionWeek ain't no joke. I'm a fucking mess.