Foodie Resolution Week #5 of 52: Vegetable Tamale Pie

I like polenta. I just don't love it. But I still continue to try and try to make the perfect polenta recipe that just knocks my socks off. This one wasn't it.

It was good, but not amazing. I'd eat it again, but... you know.

But in true not-gonna-waste-food-because-there-are-starving-kids-in-Africa Brandy style, I will finish the rest of that bag of polenta. Now send me your recipes. I need inspiration. And here was dinner tonight:

I used some of the sprouted pintos I'd frozen from a couple weeks ago in the recipe. Benjamin's was made without cheese because we only had pepper jack and he doesn't appear to love cheese just yet. That'll change. We all know.

Some additions/changes I made:

• Added diced poblanos & green bell pepper
• Didn't have canned tomatoes, so I used 3 small roma tomatoes instead
• Pepper Jack cheese only
• Added crushed tortilla chips because I thought it needed a crunch {and I liked it}
• Instead of sour cream, I used about 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt + a touch of taco seasoning & finely diced cilantro. I think it would've been better with pureed cilantro, but it was definitely good and considerably healthier than sour cream. 

I had leftover filling that I'll use in enchiladas at some point. I froze the filling to use later. This recipe was done entirely while either holding a little boy or watching him whine at my feet. 

Inspiration

There was a cute point where I was holding him while the polenta was low boiling and making bubbles on the stove that sounded a little like a clucking sound. He noticed the sound, smiled, chuckled a bit and then started to cluck to emulate the noise he was hearing and seeing in the pot! Boy is it fun watching him grow and develop. 

Next week's recipe will be for Super Bowl Sunday and I'm pretty excited about making it. Until next week.