BA Polenta and Black Bean Casserole - fast dinner

[MonkeyBelly]

We really enjoyed this last night. I am forever in search of delicious, fast weeknight dinners, and this one fits the bill. I made several changes (noted at end). This one's a keeper.

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 4-ounce cans diced green chilies, drained
1/4 cup canned salsa verde (tomatillo salsa)
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 16-ounce purchased polenta roll, cut into 18 rounds
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 15-ounce can black beans, well drained
1 15-ounce can golden hominy, well drained
3 cups coarsely grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 10 ounces)

Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 450°F. Oil 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Mix 1/2 cup cilantro, chilies, salsa verde, garlic, and cumin in medium bowl. Arrange 9 polenta rounds in bottom of dish, spacing evenly. Drizzle 1/4 cup cream over. Top with half of beans, half of hominy, and half of chili mixture. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups cheese. Repeat layering. Cover with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 475°F; uncover casserole and bake until top is golden brown, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand 5 minutes; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cilantro and serve.

Makes 6 main-course servings.


Bon Appétit
February 2002


My changes:
1. I baked this in a glass pie plate - there was not nearly enough polenta to form a layer in the large dish they recommended using. I like layers!
2. The less-than-well-stocked natural foods store near my house had neither salsa verde nor canned chilis, so I used a 15 ounce can of tomatoes with chilis instead.
3. I substituted frozen corn for the hominy.

Changes I would make in the future: I might skip the cream all together.

[stieglitzcat]

Thanks for the review, Monkeybelly (nice name :D )
I'm always looking for something relatively fast - and I've wanted to try polenta. Sounds really yummy.
I'm not much of a fan of hominy...so, I think I'd sub corn as well.

[Kayla]

Thanks for the yummy-sounding review Monkeybelly :)

My mom is constantly making casseroles (much to my dismay and tired taste buds). I always try to throw different recipes she can try into her casserole rotation, and this is definitely going to become one of them!

Thanks again, and happy cooking :)
Kayla

[gertdog]

This sounds great! I remember seeing this recipe when it appeared in Bon Appetit- thanks for bringing it to my attention again. I love polenta and black beans together. :)

[chefbecky]

I tried this on Sunday (with some changes), and it was delicious! I highly recommend it. My changes:

1. I didn't use the whipping cream.
2. I only had one can of chiles, so I used about twice as much salsa verde, with one can of chiles.
3. I only used about half of the cheese -- low-fat cheddar.
4. I subbed corn for the hominy.

I layered this in an 11x7 pan and it was fine -- didn't come of the pan in nice squares, but it was so tasty!

[Terrytx]

Add me to this growing list of people who liked this recipe. I used fat-free half-and-half instead of the whipping cream and only 2 cups cheese, and used 2% reduced -fat Mexican blend. We really liked this and there are plenty of leftovers for lunches this week.

[MonkeyBelly]

Glad you like it, Terry! This is on our menu again for tonight. I have to tell you, those little rolls of polenta have been a gift from above - wish I found them ages ago! Please send any suggestions for get-it-on-the-table-FAST (esp. vegetarian or fish) meals my way!

[gertdog]

Resurrecting this to add a review- this recipe has been in my "to try" file for a long time!

I made this as directed, except I had light cream in the fridge and so used that instead of whipping cream, and I drizzled some extra salsa verde on top before adding the last layer of cheese. It was very easy to put together.

I really, really enjoyed this dish. When it first came out of the oven it appeared to be swimming in liquid, but after it stood for a few minutes it took on a great creamy consistency. The flavors were great and I LOVED the texture of the hominy in this dish. A definite keeper. I can see using different dairy products- ff half and half and reduced fat cheese (or less cheese).

Yum!

[emily]

I'm re-resurecting this one. Though someone must have commented on it on the casserol thread for me to have found it. Regardless, this became last night's dinner. The only change I made was to use adzuki beans starting from the dried form and I added half a chopped onion because we had on sitting in the fridge. I love hominy so I left that in, but honestly it was a very starchy dinner, so next time I think I'd sub the hominy for sauteed squash or some other veggie.

Anyway, this was DELICIOUS!!! Made the house smell great, was so comforting and yummy!

Emily

[EllenL]

This is as good as everyone says! Easy to make, unqiue, and absolutely delicious. Only changes we made were to leave out the whipping cream (much more a BA than a CL ingredient!), use jalapenos instead of green chilis, and use 2 cups of Monterey Jack (not just because of the calories and fat, but because the grocery store sold packages of 2 cups of Monterey Jack.

Emily, thanks so much for posting this and Monkey Belly for staring the thread.

[bethchef]

Thanks for posting this. I love anything with polenta! I think I would want to try this with freshly made polenta, though, rather than the stuff from the tubes. It's not very hard to make it from scratch.

Beth

[SHERRY]

Resurrecting this thread again :D

I was just amazed reading thru the thread how many people made changes and still loved the dish! It must be a great recipe to accomodate all the diff tastes that have been introduced to it.

Any other variations out there :) As soon as I get the polenta, I will have to try this.

Thanks everyone.

[wintersummer]

I remember buying one of these about 10 years ago and not being very impressed.

Have they improved? Was it just me? Was it the brand I used? Any recommendations for a brand?

Also, do you think this casserole would freeze well? (I was the one who posted about uses of cilantro, specifically for items I could freeze...this would fit the bill!)

[Laurielee]

This looks so good. (sans hominy :) ) Adding to my to "to try" list

Wintersummer, you can make your own firm polenta. I did it by accident not long ago.

I made a CL creamy pumpkin polenta, I put the leftevers in the fridge and the next night it was firm so I sliced it and made a layered mushroom/alfredo sauce to go over it. (a CL recipe)

So I would make any creamy polenta recipe you have spread in a flat dish, chill and just slice it when it gets firm

Laurie

[PC Lisa]

I just had this dish tonight for dinner. I made it for a client in February and brought the remainder home and froze it. My polenta hating DH even ate it. When defrosted, it really had the texture of a tamale. I think it's pretty tasty.

I did make some changes from the original recipe. I did not use the polenta roll. I made the polenta, chilled it, then sliced it to put in the casserole. I also used corn instead of hominy, and I used Safeway's salsa verde - it's actually pretty good. I also just spread a little sour cream on the polenta - didn't use heavy cream.