Beets & Chicken Over Polenta

Ah, beets.  I really do have a tumultous relationship with beets.  On the one hand I love beets and try to eat them as often as possible, especially when someone else has gone to the trouble of preparing them.  And there's the root of my dislike of beets, they just take too long to make they're almost not worth it (like eggs benedict, always better when someone else does the preparing).  I am just don't have the energy capacity to spend over an hour cookng the beets (not to mention the rest of dinner) when I get home from work (as I've lamented before).  It's not as though I haven't tried "time-saving techniques", all to no avail.  But last night, I stumbled upon it...cook the beets the night before you want to eat them!  It's brilliant.  There aren't any hungry people waiting on the beets, there is no issue with timing the beets to be done when the rest of the food is done, and all you have to do is heat them up.  Of course it does take a bit of forethought, but what's forethought compared to An Hour and A Half On A Week Night??

For this dinner (having had a hard workout at the gym and being unusually hungry) I was all about a quick meal.  So I started with the polenta, stirred it (for not quite as long as I should have...see above and the workout) and then let it sit unattended in the warm pan to finish. (Another stroke of genius born out of laziness efficiency).  The chicken I sliced into 2 inch wide pieces and tossed in seasoned flour before cooking it so that it had a little bit of a crust and some flavor.  I finished the polenta off with a little dolce gorgonzola that had only a fraction of the traditional "blue cheese-bite" but still gave a nice contrast to the sweetness of the beets.

Beets & Chicken Over Polenta

2 chicken breast halves
4 medium golden beets
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 3/4 cup water
1 tsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
6 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

For the beets: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Put the beets (skins and all) into a square glass pan that has about an inch and a half of water in it.  Cover the pan with tin foil and bake it in the oven for an hour to an hour and a half.  When the beets are soft when pierced with a fork let them cook enough to handle.  If you are eating them right away use a kitchen towel to rub off the skin and cut them into 1/2 inch match sticks.  If you are going to eat them the next day put the beets into a ziploc bag and put them (unpeeled) into the fridgerator.  Peel and cut the cold beets as discussed above.

For the polenta:  There are three keys to making polenta: (i) the water to corn meal ratio is 3:1; (ii) pour the polenta into the boiling water a little at a time, making sure it's incorporated before adding any more; and (iii) stir until your arm is ready to fall off (preferrably 15 - 20 minutes, but less stirring is ok if your arm is sore).  Also, make sure to salt the boiling water before adding the polenta and I like to finish my polenta with a small bit of butter. 


For the chicken:  Cut the chicken into 2 inch sections.  Mix the flour, salt, pepper and garam masala together in a bowl. (Don't worry even though it seems like a lot of salt.  Kosher salt is heavy and will fall to the bottom below the flour so you need extra.) Toss the chicken in the flour mixture to coat it well.  Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and add the chicken to the pan once it's hot.  Cook the chicken until it's about 3/4 done and then add the beets (if they're cold from the fridge) to reheat them.

When the chicken is cooked and the beets are heated through serve the chicken and beets over the polenta with the gorgonzola sprinkled over the top (if you are going that route) and garnished with the basil.  Bon Appetit!


Serves 2

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