Creamy polenta

I just learned by reading mollyjade's blog that October is the Vegan Month of Food, and there are a bunch of bloggers writing about their favorite vegan recipes all month. I didn't get the memo in time, so today's recipe is made with cream, but this month I will try to highlight some of my favorite vegan recipes. For those of you who care, I have added a vegan tag, so you can search just for those if you want. (I have delusions that there are hordes of you out there searching my blog for inspiration.)

Today, however, we are swimming in cream. I ended up taking home some leftover roasted eggplant, squash, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and garlic from a church dinner on Sunday. They were tasty, but a big pile of roasted vegetables isn't quite a meal for me. I wanted a grain to go with it. I considered rice, bulgur, bread, pasta, and quinoa, but none of them sounded right. Finally I hit on polenta, and it sounded perfect. It worked like a charm. This would also be good with sauteed greens or a chunky tomato sauce.

Creamy polenta (recipe from the back of a parmesan cheese container I bought in 2003)

2 cups broth (I used 1 1/2 tsp Better than Bouillion dissolved in 2 cups water)
1 1/3 cups water
1 cup cornmeal (doesn't have to be labeled "polenta")
1/2 cup cream or milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan, romano, or asiago cheese

Bring the broth and water to a boil over high heat. Add the cornmeal slowly while whisking to prevent lumps. Mine always has lumps anyway, but they're small and few in number. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, for about 15-20 minutes. The recipes always say "until mixture is pulling away from the sides of the pan", but I'm not patient enough, and it's usually thick enough for me after 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cream or milk and cheese.