Mexican Polenta Casserole

Tonight, I went to some friendly blogs for dinner inspiration. This recipe is super easy and anybody could do it. I did gain the idea from one of my recent favorites, Kath Eats Real Food. I will say that I was super proud to use up some of the pile of produce in the freezer, slowly making way for another season of production coming soon! 

The culprits include:

Bell peppers, assorted, chopped, approximately 4 cups

Corn, approximately 2 cups

Garlic, 2 cloves

Pureed tomatoes, 2 cups

Taco seasoning, 1 Tablespoon

Cumin, 1 teaspoon

Red pepper, ground, couple dashes

Beans, 1 can chili beans and 1/2 cup black beans that we had in the fridge

Polenta, 1 cup dry cooked with 2 cups water

Cheddar cheese, 1 cup shredded

My method of cooking is obvious, throw whatever is on hand into the pot. I usually don't include recipes because I have no idea what went into something. However, I decided to include this recipe because it is so easy. If you have other veggies or a different kind of bean, they will work just as well.

My bell peppers came out of the freezer and into the pan.

After they mostly defrosted and cooked just a bit, I went ahead and drained some of the extra liquid that developed. Then, in went the tomatoes, corn, and seasoning. This I allowed to cook for a bit as well before adding the beans. 

This mixture went into the casserole dish and covered with the cooked polenta. Polenta is made by simply boiling 2 cups water and adding in 1 cup of dry polenta. Stir and allow to cook briefly until absorbed. Polenta is basically coarse ground corn meal. It would be super to use whole grain polenta, but that is not easily found around here. :( Cheese is sprinkled on top and baked for approximately 15 minutes.

I think it could have stood to have a little more spice. Next time I would up the cumin, red pepper, and garlic. My mother had to put salt and pepper on it, which indicates to me that it needed more spice. But overall, quite tasty!