I always make my polenta with FF chicken broth and I always make it in the oven. Very little stirring is required, you just put it in the oven and forget about it until it is done (I do usually stir it when I take it out to check to see if it is done). Not only is this easy, but it's also very versatile in terms of cooking time. I cook it at 350 in a covered casserole dish. It usually takes about 40 min, but if the rest of my meal isn't ready yet, I just add a little more broth (or water) and stick it back in the oven. I leave it in the oven until I'm ready for it and just add more broth/water if it starts to get dry.
As for servings, I generally find that 2 tbsp dry is more than enough for me, once it is cooked up. But I like my polenta nice and creamy, so I am adding more broth/water than the package calls for, which means that my polenta may come out to more than for someone who uses the amount of liquid on the package.
Sometimes I stir in FF cream cheese once it is finished cooking. This gives it a nice creamy flavor and texture but adds only a nominal amount of calories. I use about 2 tbsp cream cream cheese to 1/2 cup dry polenta (which would work out to four servings of polenta for me).
I've added chopped sundried tomatoes to it while it is cooking and this also came out great.
I often use polenta as a bread substitute. Instead of eating burgers or sausages in a bun, I eat them over polenta, with sauteed onions and peppers. I also use it as a rice substitute in Indian dishes and as a pasta substitute in Italian dishes. Or I'll serve soup or stew over it. This week I am making a stir-fry scallop dish that I think I may try over polenta.
One of my favorite meals is to take a chicken breast and pound it flat, sprinkle it with a seasoning blend (such as jerk seasoning). then saute it. Then I saute some spinach and polenta in the same pan, and heat up a sauce (like a marinara sauce or my fav
Stone Fruit Sauce). I top the polenta with the spinach and chicken, then add the sauce. It is a great, easy meal. An alternative is to cut a slit in the chicken and stuff it with cheese, herbs, and veggies (such as spinach or roasted red pepper) or fruit (apricots are good), then broil it and the polenta.
For breakfast, eggs baked with polenta is fabulous. Cook a single serving of polenta in an individual ramekin. Once the polenta is cooked, add an egg or two mixed with 1 tbsp milk, yogurt, or FF half and half and whatever else you want (ham, spinach, onions, mushrooms, cheese, whatever you like in your eggs). Stick it in the oven until the egg is cooked. You can break the yolk or not, whatever is your preference.
Another great recipe is
Baked Cheese Polenta with Swiss Chard.
