Spicy Polenta Bakes with Bean Dip

Spicy Polenta Bakes with Bean Dip

By Namit Kathoria

 

Preparation time: 40 min

Cooking time: 25 min

 

Serves 6 people

Ingredients:

Polenta bakes

½ tablespoon arrowroot powder

1 tablespoon brown rice flour

1 cup vegetable stock

1 cup wholegrain polenta (check the amount of fibre on the back of the package, about 4-5% fibre generally indicates that it should be wholegrain)

1 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon hot paprika

½ inch fresh turmeric grated/ ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon tikka masala spice mix (but you can substitute with garam masala spice mix if tikka masala is unavailable)

400g tofu (drained and cubed)

2 teaspoons olive oil

 1 small broccoli head broken down into florets

 ½ cup cauliflower broken down into florets

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon Himalayan rock salt

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander

Bean dip

1 jar (400-500g) red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

¾ cup raw cashew nuts (soaked in boiling water, drained and rinsed)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon with fibre

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder

4 ½ teaspoons brown rice miso paste

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 cup vegetable stock

Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and/or chopped fresh chives.

Preparation:

1. Leave the cashew nuts to soak for 15-20 minutes in boiling water.
2. Drain and cube the tofu, then heat up 2 teaspoons of olive oil on a medium to high heat adding in one cube of tofu. Once it starts to sizzle add in the rest of the tofu with the ground black pepper and the Himalayan rock salt. Keep stirring and shallow frying for about 6-7 minutes until the tofu cubes becomes crispy all over. Then put the cubes to one side.
3. Whislt the tofu is cooking take a large mixing bowl and put together the rest of the ingredients for the polenta bakes except for the broccoli and the cauliflower. Mix thoroughly and make sure the mixture has a little bit liquid like constituency. If it is too dry then add in some more of the vegetable stock.
4. Preheat the oven to 170 – 180° C. Dip the cauliflower florets, the broccoli florets and the tofu cubes individually into the mixture and make sure that they are coated all over.
5. Take a large baking tray and put some baking paper in the bottom. Put the coated veggies and tofu on the baking paper, leaving enough space in between so that the individual bakes do not touch each other. Bake for about 25 minutes, constantly checking through the window to make sure that they do not burn.
6. Once the coating has become nice and crispy then they are ready. Take them out of the oven and leave them aside for a few minutes to cool down.
7. Whilst the bakes are in the oven, rinse the cashew nuts and drain the water out.
8. Blend together all the ingredients for the bean dip for a minute or so on a fast setting in a blender. You might have to stop once or twice to scrape down the sides of the blender. Taste the mixture, see if you need to add any more of the ingredients such as the garlic or onion powders or black pepper. Pour into a bowl, refrigerate for a few minutes whilst the bakes are being finished off in the oven.
9. Once cooled slightly, serve the bakes with the bean dip and top each with the respective garnishes.

 

 

Did you know?

Polenta originally comes from more ancient forms of grain and in Latin polenta was known as pulmentum. It was eaten in Roman times as well and this was before corn was introduced from the Americans in the 1500s. Originally in Roman times it was made from chestnut flour, spelt, chickpea flour and sometimes even millet. Modern day polenta which we are using in this recipe is made from corn.

 

Where does your protein come from?

It comes from the red kidney beans, the raw cashew nuts and from the tofu. All are excellent sources of protein.

 

To get more inspiration for healthy plant-based recipes please see our new nutrition and recipe book “Life” which is due to come out in 2022.