For all my fellow polenta-lovers.
Because Christmas Eve is such a big event, we usually do something smaller for Christmas. This year, I somehow convinced my entire family to eat a vegan Christmas dinner! Mom was instantly on board, as it meant she didn’t have to cook.
I cooked up a huge batch of Bread-Free Vegan Stuffing.
I’m kinda obsessed with this recipe, if you couldn’t tell. It’s especially simple to make when you have a sister chopping veggies for you and a dad who does the dishes.
With the stuffing, I made a simple salad (just greens and almonds, letting everyone choose their dressing). In a polenta mood from my Christmas Polenta Casserole the night before, I opted for more polenta as a side dish—a quick and easy, single-serving recipe (I cooked extra for the family).
Creamy Polenta for One
- 1/2 cup cornmeal (whole-grain or regular)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3Â tbsp creamer, such as Silk (Creamer-Free Version Here)
Measure your polenta, salt, and 1 cup water into a small pot. Cook on medium-high, with the lid on, for 4 minutes. Then uncover, stir, and lower to a simmer for 2 more minutes. Stir again, then keep simmering (still uncovered) 3 more minutes, or until desired consistency is reached. I make this ahead of time and add the creamer right before serving. Add the creamer, then re-heat until it’s warmed to your liking.
After dinner, we cuddled up on the couch with Molly and Henry and watched It’s a Wonderful Life, a.k.a. one of the cutest movies–Christmas or not–ever made.
Side note: I did really well teaching Henry, who sheds, not to go on the couch. But then I missed cuddling with him when I sat on the couch! Sometimes, you have to weigh the pros and cons: missing out on Henry cuddles is so not worth having fur-less furniture.
Love polenta so needless to say I’ll be making that recipe! X
Oh when we had pets, little doggies, they were soooo spoiled! Pink purse dog carriers, food that cost more than most people’s, doggie daycare, doggie playdates, oh my, yes, total definition of pampered small dog syndrome 🙂 It was fun and they were NICE dogs though. I never had those dogs that were yippy and barkey and annoying….lol.
Great comforting meal too….:)
Ugh yes, I hate when ppl have yippy dogs! Especially when people leave them out at night!!!
My mom (but mostly my Dad) always said that my dog is NOT allowed on the couch. Even though he’s a poodle mix and doesn’t shed AT ALL. But somehow, he always ends up on the couch next to me or on my lap and my parents have given up trying to keep him off!
It’s hard to tell them no, right? 😉 They just have the saddest, cutest puppy eyes… you can’t say no to that.
How nice of your family to have an all vegan Christmas dinner. Though how could they refuse that delicious polenta dish? Yum, I’ll have to try this recipe.
I have an old old cat. She’s quite senile, but I love her anyway.
Oh, you mentioned pets, and that’s totally enough to get me out of my long-standing lurkdom! 🙂
I have two dogs. They’re horrendously spoiled. My littler one is a mini poodle with the biggest heart you could ever imagine, and she has my big, buff, mostly stoic father wrapped around that little paw of hers. She’s darling, though. Yours are too! 🙂
I think I miss my dogs the most when I’m off at school… Don’t tell my parents that, though. 😉
Haha aww I understand! When I was off at college, at least I could talk to my parents. But not the puppers :(… except the few times my mom put them on the phone and I got to hear Henry breathing!
SO cool you got your fam to eat a vegan christmas dinner–that’s such a sweet memory!
What girl, you beat me to it! How do us amazing bloggers think of the same posts to write? I guess great minds think alike 🙂 Mines a bit different though, ‘cheezy’ herb, to be exact!
There can never be too many polenta recipes in the blogworld! 🙂
Oh, wow! I wish my family would agree to eat an entirely vegan meal!
I think I just found a use for the Silk creamer that has been sitting in my fridge fo-evah…
Ooh you can also put it in your oatmeal. It SERIOUSLY takes plain oatmeal into rice-pudding territory. Just 2T stirred in is ahhmazing :).
aren’t dads the best? had mine not been there to help and clean the dishes from all the cooking i did for the holidays, i’d probably still be doing dishes from thanksgiving 😉
Ugh me too! Love you, Daddy! Yay for daddies ;).
Haha, we;ve got a cat (Stimpy – not a reference to Ren and Stimpy as the other cat was called Bud, we’re slightly confused too :P). Stimpy is not so much spoilt as her own boss, there’s a cat next door (Crumpet – such a cute name!) who’s the biggest flirt. I spend more time patting him than studying!
They should get a dog named Tea :).
Hahaha! That would be brilliant!
I have actually never tried polenta! I will have to make this recipe. You’re the best, Katie! 😀
Aw Laura, YOU are the best for always being so sweet to me :).
That is really great that your family was on board for a vegan holiday meal. Polenta is always a good choice. I do have pets and they are spoiled. I think it is neat that they get to live overseas with us too. I think they have no idea that they live on a tiny Portuguese island.
Oh yum! I had polenta yesterday … I just love it.
I don’t know why polenta always intimidated me, because there’s so little to it! I was a little confused, though… I had creamy polenta last night, but when I opened my tupperware at lunch today I had semi-solid polenta in a water moat! I was able to mix it back together after heating, but it really surprised me. I feel silly asking a question on such a simple recipe, but having never made it before, I’m not sure if that’s normal or I did something wrong, lol.
I usually leave my grains (polenta, oatmeal, etc) at least semi-uncovered (with at least a little pocket of air) for that reason. The water separates.
Good to know — thanks!!
Do you have tips of what you can do with polenta so that it isn’t bland?
Use homemade chicken stock as your liquid.