Baked Red Beans with Polenta

While I am filled with enthusiasm for both my job and Zach's new undertakings during his clinical rotations, which began this month, I am still working mostly 12-hour night shifts, and Zach is now working 10-hour day shifts every weekday, and thus during half the week we aren't able to see each other at all, simply passing on the metaphorical highway as I drive to work while Zach makes his way home. Thankfully, my 12-hour shifts mean I only work 3 or 4 days a week, but still, this morning as I walked Zach to his car, we looked at each other for a moment and then laughed ruefully - "See you in a few days?" said Zach? "See you on Wednesday," I sighed.

On the nights when I'm working, such as tonight, how I miss us cooking supper together, or Zach bringing his homework to the kitchen so he can keep me company as I bake and saute... I've always known our time together was precious, but oh how do I now miss the luxury of seeing each other every day. We have certainly been apart before (y'all might remember the enormous quantity of pinto beans I erroneously cooked while Zach was at Air Force training for 5 weeks), but it's always a despondent time. On the brighter side, though our challenging new schedules will surely make us appreciate the joy of each other's presence all the more.

Tonight the best I can do is leave Zach a fridge full of tantalizing supper dishes and a love note on the counter, but last night I hummed and seasoned in the kitchen, Zach sat at the table doing research on his laptop, red beans and tomatoes simmered on the stove, and all was right in my world.

Baked Red Beans with Polenta

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking grits or polenta (same thing, really :-)
6 cups water
1 T olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey OR 1 lb. tempeh, crumbled
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
4 oz reduced fat cheddar cheese, diced into small cubes
Minced parsley
Additional cheese, for garnishing

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
~ In a saucepan, bring the 4 cups water, seasoned with salt and pepper, to a boil.
~ Stir the grits/polenta into the boiling water, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 7 minutes, raising the cover to stir frequently. Remove from the heat, stir one more time, and set aside.
~ In a large skillet, saute the ground turkey or tempeh and the onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat until the turkey or tempeh is browned and the onion is limp and translucent.
~ Stir in the bell pepper, kidney beans, and tomatoes with their juice, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until thickened a bit and heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
~ Spread half the cooked grits/polenta in the bottom of an 8" round casserole dish.
~ Pour the kidney beans mixture on top.
~ Sprinkle the cheese over the kidney beans mixture.
~ Spoon dollops of the remaining grits/polenta atop the cheese, using a round biscuit cutter to shape the polenta dollops into pretty circles.
~ Sprinkle sea salt and fresh ground pepper on top of the final grits/polenta layer.
~ Bake for 25 minutes - until lightly golden brown.
~ Serve garnished with minced fresh parsley and a bit more cheddar cheese...