Polenta

It's so easy . . . why do we buy the stuff pre-made, when it tastes so good homemade, with organic maize?

I get my ground maize at Whole Foods, and as I said, I buy the organic . . . Bring 4 cups water to a boil (with a tsp of salt), then slowly stir in a cup of cornmeal, sifting it through your fingers as you stir it in. After about 20 minutes, I pour mine into a non-stick loaf pan, and let it congeal and cool a bit.

Turn it out onto a board, and slice, then do what you want with it (some recipes bake it, other times you fry some in olive oil, smother it in red sauce . . . whatever).

Very satisfying, too -- warm, crunchy-crispy, chewy, a bit of saltiness to it. I use 1/4 of the loaf for a meal (125 calories), shown at left, then make 4 slices out of that chunk. I fry it in 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, for a total of 3 WW points.