Experimenting with Grits
Monday, April 30th, 2012
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I tried some “hard” polenta at a restaurant last week. It was OK, but it had been sauteed or fried in too much oil, and that made it a bit heavy and unappealing. A few days later, I was shopping at Trader Joe’s and saw their Stone Ground White Grits. I got to wondering … what is the difference between grits and polenta? The only ingredient listed on this package was “corn,” just like unprepared polenta. Aside from yellow (polenta) versus white (grits) corn, they look pretty much the same to me. OK, maybe the grits are a little more coarse, but could I use these grits to make a polenta-like dish? Hmm …
Tonight, I was cooking dinner for my training partner. I forgot to start the brown rice on time for dinner, so I decided to experiment the grits. I found a very simple polenta recipe (http://www.cookthink.com/recipe/3996/Simple_Polenta) and made a small batch based on this recipe.
1 cup water
1/3 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup Trader Joe’s Stone Ground White Grits
1 -2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or your choice of fresh herbs)
1 tablespoon olive oilBring the salted water to a boil. On medium heat, whisk in the grits and continue to whisk until the mixture starts to thicken. Whisk in the herbs and olive oil, and continue to cook until desired thickness. The grits can be served immediately for “soft” texture or poured into a ramekin or other container to cool and firm to a “hard” stage.
For a first try, I liked it. I thought it needed a little more salt, and will definitely play a bit more with this. It’s a hot evening, so I wanted something on the lighter side, therefore no cheese. Perhaps on a cold, rainy wintery night I’ll try this with cheese.
These were a side dish to grilled chicken breasts, steamed veggies (asparagus, brussel sprouts, organic broccolette, and organic sugar plum grape tomatoes), and brown rice (the timing worked out just fine, and I wanted to serve the rice just in case the grits were awful). I think tomorrow I’ll try grilling the leftover piece of “hard” polenta-grits on my George Foreman grill. I have to come up with a name for this. Grilenta? Polrits? Oh, no, no, no … those won’t do.
The chicken tonight was Rocky free range chicken. When I went to the store to buy it, I noticed that whole Rocky Junior chickens (http://www.petalumapoultry.com/rocky_jr) were on special, so I got this brilliant idea … why not buy a whole chicken and cut it into pieces and make my own boneless skinless chicken breasts and save $2+ per pound? I know how to do this! A little out of practice, maybe, but … I know how to do this. It’s much more cost effective this way.
Let’s just say … I’m really out of practice and I’m going to be eating chicken all week.
I marinated the breasts in a little olive oil, fresh squeezed organic lemon juice & zest, and fresh organic thyme. They marinated for about 2 hours, then I cooked them on my George Foreman grill. This little machine was a terrific investment.
Low Fat Lemon Curd with Fresh Berries
For dessert … I made low fat lemon curd (recipe posted previously) and served this with fresh organic strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. This is the only item from the entire dinner that I photographed!
This curd is a little different from the original recipe because I used organic blue agave sweetener, which is a low glycemic sweetener. From what I understand, lower glycemic level (or index) foods are better at maintaining even blood sugar levels. I’m just learning about this, and it seems that there are a lot of factors involved, but it seems to me, the less processed (whole wheat vs. white, brown rice vs. white, juices vs. whole fruit, al dente vs. soft-cooked) the lower the glycemic index (“GI”).
The end result was a yummy lemon curd!
Here are some links to more information about glycemic index:
- http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/glycemic-index-diet/MY00770
- http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/planning-meals/glycemic-index-and-diabetes.html#What_is_the_glycemic_index
I still think, for me, that balance is the most important eating habit. I am fortunate to have, for the most part, pretty healthy food preferences. I don’t like “diets” because I find them to be too restrictive and I like to have a lot of variety in my diet when it comes to food. I guess that’s my inner foodie.
