Tonight's dinner was inspired by an "Instant Tamale Pie." The original recipe called for you to bake a little casserole with a layer of sliced polenta at the bottom and a mixture of beans, salsa, corn, and cheese on top. That sounded yummy, but I was hoping for a little more texture—I didn't want it to just be mushy all the way through.
So I deconstructed things a little. I cubed the polenta (instead of slicing it) and just toasted in a big skillet for about ten minutes, until the sides of the cubes were crispy and lightly browned. For a lot of foods, toasting or dry-frying (basically, frying without any oil at all) works about as well as frying does, but it keeps your foods light-tasting and healthy. Much better. Anyway, the little cubes crisped up nicely in a dry pan.
The quick chili aspect was really easy to make. I just took a can of chili beans (they already come with a little bit of sauce in the can), mashed it up lightly with a fork, and added half a cup of salsa, half a cup of frozen corn, and a teaspoon of cumin. Then just heat up the mixture in a saucepan on the stove (or in the microwave) while the polenta's toasting.
We assembled it with a layer of the crispy polenta at the bottom, then a few spoonfuls of the quick chili, then a sprinkling of grated cheese on top. It was actually very delicious. The polenta was brightly corn-flavored and nice and toasty, and the chili was surprisingly warm and flavorful, considering how few ingredients were in it. And a little bit of cheese took things over the top!
On top of being easy and tasty, it only cost around two dollars ($1 for the tube of polenta, which was cheap because someone who's bad at marketing labeled it as the much less appetizing "corn meal mush," $0.65 for the can of beans, and a few extra pennies for the corn, salsa, and cheese that we had in our pantry). High fives for making frugality awesome!
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