Polenta Stir Fry

This is a sweet and spicy stir-fry with polenta. The veggies are crisp and delicious, and the polenta adds a uniqueness to the dish - it becomes soft and warm, almost evoking in both color and texture chunks of cooked pineapple, brought to mind by the pineapple juice in the sauce.

A Vegetarian & Cooking! original.

Ingredients:

-1/4 head cabbage

-1/2 c asparagus

-4 oz polenta

-2 oz pineapple juice

-1 T soy sauce

-2 t corn starch, divided

-1 clove garlic

-1 T sugar

-cayenne pepper

Chop the asparagus and cabbage.

Cube the polenta and toss in 1 teaspoon corn starch and a dash of salt and cayenne.

For the sauce, combine pineapple juice, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, the remaining 1 teaspoon of corn starch, and another dash of cayenne.

Heat up the wok over medium high heat with a splash of oil. Add and stir the polenta for 1-2 minutes, then add the asparagus and cabbage. Once the vegetables have softened and colored, whisk the sauce to re-combine and add it to the wok. The sauce will thicken and adhere to the vegetables and polenta.

If desired, serve over a bed of rice or noodles.

This stir-fry was excellent and easy to prepare, a good balance of sweetness and kick, with very inviting flavor. The polenta was both interesting and a little distracting, because it was so evocative of pineapple but gave way to a light, warm cornmeal center. May benefit from the addition of tofu.