Enchilada-Inspired Polenta Pie

A new recipe I tried from Robin Robertson's Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. To get the polenta going, I minced an onion, sauted it in some olive oil, threw it in the cooker with some chili powder, salt, cornmeal and boiling water.


A few hours before it was set to be done, I threw together the other ingredients to let the flavors mingle and meld. Ingredients consist of: pinto beans, corn, chunky salsa, green chiles, red onion & chili powder. Recipe also called for olives but I don't care for them. Mixed that all together, threw some Saran wrap on the bowl and in the fridge it went.


Now, this being my first time cooking polenta from cornmeal, my expectations were off. I expected it to firm up. It did become thicker but never firm like I figured it would. I had to reference another cookbook to read up on polenta and from what I read, the texture and consistency were right on. So I threw in the bean mixture on top of the polenta and set the timer for 30 minutes. Chopped up some cilantro and waited for some yummy goodness.


As you can see, the polenta is still not firm, but the dish was very tasty. I figured it would all blend together when I got it out of the cooker to store for leftovers, and it did. And that's alright; I don't mind it all mixed together instead of the beans sitting on top of a firm polenta base like I imagined because it tastes mighty good. And isn't that what really matters? :-)