Polenta With Okra & Black Bean Tomato Sauce

Baked Polenta Slices with Okra Tomato Black Bean Sauce, Cheese Topping

If you're wondering what to do with all that polenta you just made, or bought, here's a wonderful easy gourmet polenta recipe. It's also a nice way to eat okra, a highly nutritious, cholesterol lowering vegetable.

Easy Vegetable Recipe: Store bought polenta, canned black beans & tomato sauce, with frozen okra make this polenta okra black bean tomato recipe practically instant.

Yield: 4 Servings

Total prep & cook time: 20 min

Nutrition Data Per Serving, 299 g: 452 calories, 83 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat, 308 mg sodium, 10 g dietary fiber, 12 g protein, low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol, good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Folate and Manganese. Estimated glycemic load: 51.

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe prepared polenta OR 1 (18 oz) pkg polenta, sliced into 10-12 rounds
• 1 (14 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes OR 6 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 - 1 lb okra, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp marjoram
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: 2 Tbsp grated non-dairy cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. If making your own polenta, after removing the thickened polenta from the heat, pour it into a flat pan and smooth out the surface with a spatula until level
3. Once cool, use a 3 inch round pastry cutter to stamp out 10 - 12 rounds of polenta. Or form the polenta into a 2 inch thick roll and slice when cool
4. Lay the polenta rounds so they slightly overlap in the middle of a lightly oiled baking dish
5. Place in oven to warm while preparing the okra
6. Cut tops and tails off the okra and slice thinly
7. Chop garlic and sauté in 1 tablespoon oil
8. Add okra and sauté for a few minutes
9. Add tomatoes, cover and simmer until okra is tender, 15 - 20 minutes
10. If too much liquid, uncover and allow it to evaporate
11. Add drained beans and mix lightly
12. Spoon mixture around and slightly over polenta, leaving the tops of the polenta showing
13. Top with grated dairy or non-dairy cheese if desired and return to oven for 15 minutes, until the cheese melts

Recipe Tips:

Make this polenta recipe practically instant, with a store bought polenta roll, canned black beans & tomato sauce, and frozen sliced okra, which needs only to be heated through in the tomato sauce. Just assemble the dish, sprinkle the cheese and heat in the oven.

Fresh okra in season can be found fabulously fresh and reasonably priced at farmers markets in the summer. Likewise ripe plum tomatoes, bursting with flavor.

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