October 24, 2012

Easy hot breakfast polenta in five minutes

For years I avoided microwaves and never owned one. Even now they make me uncomfortable, but a great big microwave came with our house, and I guess I've found the convenience factor too alluring to ignore completely. I don't use it for much, but it occasionally makes me a hot breakfast in minutes on groggy mornings. And there's no pot to clean.


For my morning polenta I use 1/4 cup of coarse organic polenta plus 1 cup of filtered water, a handful of raisins and a few nigella seeds (opt.). I microwave it in a large soup bowl for five minutes. (Every microwave is different. Start with 4 minutes and see if you need to add more time.) While the polenta cooks, I cut up some black olives and small tomatoes. When the polenta is done, I add my cut up toppings with a good sprinkle of pumpkin seeds (or walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, cashews, whatever) and dig in. I've also been known to make a version with blueberries and almond milk.

I was hesitating to publish this because it seemed to me I had already published a similar post, so I searched my blog. Weirdly enough, exactly one year ago today on Oct. 24, I posted about the very same breakfast. I think mofo is messing with my brain.

Oh well. Might as well throw in a picture of my pretend cat, Lucy. After all, what's a good bowl of porridge without company to enjoy it with? And Lucy, at least, wasn't in the 2011 post. :)

20 comments:

  1. Hello, Lucy! Aren't you a cutie!

    Microwaves do make me a bit uncomfortable, but like you said, the convenience of it cannot be ignored. I have also been blogging about things that I had already shared at one point or another. Some things are worth an encore presentation! :D

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    1. Convenience is very convincing, isn't she?

      Yes, I agree that it can be OK to repeat. I was really glad you encored some of your posts!

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  2. Polenta in the microwave sounds so convenient! Also, your cat is beautiful. I love a fluffy kitty so much.

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    1. The microwave does have some advantages in the convenience department. :)

      I call Lucy my "pretend cat" because she isn't really mine. She belongs to a neighbor who I think neglects her a little, and she prefers to spend much of her time at our house. She comes early and leaves late, and is very sweet and loving.

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  3. I went through a similar microwave journey. When we lived in LA, I got rid of my microwave. Then we moved to Iowa and both of our rentals have come with microwaves built into the cupboards. It's so convenient for warming leftovers, and so I use it because it's here.

    The polenta looks wonderful! I especially like the olives in it. That sounds like a perfect way to start the morning. Of course, Lucy is adorable as always!!

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    1. Warming leftovers is so easy in the microwave, you're right.

      Everything is better with olives, don't you think?

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  4. I haven't had a microwave for such a long time, but there's one in my office, and like you, sometimes I can't resist going for the easy option - with blueberries and almond milk, only with porridge!

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    1. I learned to use a microwave at my office! Now that I have one, I find myself using it more than I thought I would, but not a lot.

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  5. I never would have thought of combining raisins, olives, and tomatoes! Your bowl looks delicious :-)

    I guess I am the odd one out here as I use my microwave fairly frequently, especially in the summer when I want something cooked/warm and I can't bring myself to turn on the oven or the stove in my apt without AC!! In the fall and winter I don't use it as much, but it is super convenient...

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    1. This is my favorite polenta bowl, but the garden tomatoes will run out pretty soon, unfortunately.

      There's no denying the microwave comes in handy for just the reasons you mentioned. Every so often, I bake a potato in mine!

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    2. Yes! You can even start "baking" the potato in the microwave and then finish it off in the oven--it cuts way down on the oven time. That works great for winter squash too!

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  6. i just did a polenta post the other day! great minds blog alike! really adorable kitty!

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    1. I just looked at your post. So now you can buy polenta frozen and already mixed with veggies? That's pretty crazy. I think I need to go to Trader Joe's.

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  7. Pretty kitty!
    I love polenta, but rarely make it. I mostly use my microwave to tell the time so I'm so unsure what works in it. I would never have thought to even try polenta! Good to know. No pot to clean is a big plus.

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    1. When you don't feel like cooking, every little thing you don't have to do is a big plus. The polenta works great in the microwave — it also works great in the oven but of course it takes a lot longer. In either case you don't have to stand around stirring it.

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  8. Looks healthy and pretty with all those seeds. Your pretend cat? You have me worried, Andrea ;)

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    1. Lucy and I love each other and spend a lot of time together but she really belongs to a neighbor. I just pretend she's mine. She has a scratching post, water mug and treats at our house, and I'm the one who keeps her free of mats, but she lives elsewhere.

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  9. It's MoFo groundhog day. I will let you in on a little secret Andrea, everybody in the history of MoFo owned a microwave and made polenta in it on Oct 24th.
    This looks very good. I do not own a microwave. My elderly parents do, the only time I visit them is when I have a hankering for a baked potato made in under 10 minutes.

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    1. I think you may be right about the connection between Oct. 24 and polenta. Eery, isn't it? The cornmeal galaxy must be in alignment with the ancient microwave poles. Or something.

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    2. See sensed that you would be aware of the cornmeal galaxy.

      Delete

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