Bryannas Italian Polenta, Bean, And Kale Slices

Name: Bryannas Italian Polenta, Bean, And Kale Slices
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1/2 Pound Kale; 3 Cups Vegetarian broth; 2 Cloves Garlic, chopped; 1 1/2 Cup Cooked or canned pinto, borlotti, or cranberry beans, rinsed and drained; 1/2 Cup Yellow cornmeal or polenta; 1/2 Cup Cold water; 1/2 Teaspoon Salt; To Taste Freshly ground black pepper

This a sort of Italian Scrapple ("scrapple" is an old-fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch dish made from cornmeal and pork scraps). Both are cooled until solid, then sliced and browned. Scrapple is served with applesauce or syrup, but this dish is served with freshly-ground black pepper and gravy, or marinara sauce, or even ketchup, with the option of a sprinkling of soy parmesan. This dish is not only nutritious, but delicious. It's a good way to use leftover plain cooked beans. Note: Make this the day before you are going to serve it.

Serves: 6

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Ingredients

1/2 Pound Kale

3 Cups Vegetarian broth

2 Cloves Garlic, chopped

1 1/2 Cup Cooked or canned pinto, borlotti, or cranberry beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 Cup Yellow cornmeal or polenta

1/2 Cup Cold water

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

To Taste Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1 Cook the kale and garlic together with the broth in a covered pan over medium-low heat until just tender.

2 Drain and save 1 and 1/2 cups of the remaining broth and set aside with the drained beans.

3 (Double-Boiler Method:) Mix the cornmeal with the cold water in the top of the double boiler. Add the 1 and 1/2 cups warm reserved broth and stir well. Place over simmering water and when it boils, let it simmer 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the polenta is creamy and smooth.

4 (Microwave Method:) Whisk the cornmeal and cold water together in a large microwavable bowl. Stir in the warm reserved broth. Cover and cook in short intervals as directed, whisking between intervals and letting stand 1 minute until cooked.

5 Pour the cooked, drained beans, kale, and salt into the polenta and stir very well.

6 Scrape the mixture into a 9 x 5″ loaf pan lined with cooking parchment and smooth the top evenly. Cover and chill.

7 When the loaf is firm, loosen the sides with a table knife and turn over on a plate. Remove the cooking parchment and slice 3/4″ slices from the loaf. Place the slices on a cooking-parchment-lined cookie sheet.

8 Broil them 3 to 4″ from the heat source until the tops are speckled with browned spots. Turn the slices over and broil the other side.

9 Serve hot with freshly-ground pepper, and gravy; or ketchup; or hot marinara sauce and soy Parmesan (optional).

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Bryannas Italian Polenta, Bean, And Kale Slices

Ingredients

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