Skip to main content

Sarah's Friend's Trainer's Spinach and Black Bean Polenta


I'm not a health food nut, but I'm nuts about the healthy recipe I made last night. A dear friend of mine (who does triathlons) hired one of those snazzy trainers that does workouts and meals with you/for you, and I'm enjoying some of the benefits: second hand recipes already tested by my dear friend the gourmet triathlete.

You won't find me making anything difficult (ever) but this one is just about the easiest thing I've ever done and I loooooooved it. My kids even ate the polenta and beans and cheese (the non oniony, spinachy parts).

If you have a recipe to share send it along and I'll include it in a post. Give your name so we can all praise you for your recipe at the pool.

Here's the Polenta Deal:

Serving Content: 1/4 of recipe
Servings: 4 (Riiiiight. I ate at least half of this, but even so it's healthy)
Calories/Serving: 316.44
CPF Ratio (what the hell is this anyway?): 57-25-17

1 t Olive Oil
2 Garlic cloves, minced (I used two frozen Trader Joe's garlic cubes)
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth, Nonfat Reduced Sodium
1/4 Cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes (packed in oil, drained)
1/2 t Cumin
1/2 Cup Sweet Onion, chopped
1 Can Black Beans
1/2 Bag Baby Spinach
4 Cups Water
1 Cup Polenta, Dry
1 T Smart Balance Light Spread
1/2 t Salt
4 oz Cheese, Cabot Cheddar 75% Light (from Trader Joe's. But I used full fat sharp Cheddar and I DO recommend it :)

1. Heat oil in nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add garlic; saute 1 minute
2. Stir in broth, tomatoes, cumin, onion, and beans; bring to simmer. Cook 2-3 min, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat. Add spinach, tossing to combine.
4. Bring water to boil in medium pot. Add polenta, Smart Balance, and salt; stir well w/ a whisk.
5. Reduce heat, and simmer 3 min or until thick, stirring constantly.
6. Spoon 3/4 Cup polenta into each of 4 bowls (or put it all into your bowl. you earned it while swimming after all). Top each with 3/4 Cup bean mixture and 1 oz. cheese.

Enjoy.

Comments

jessica said…
Sarah,
Tim included a link to your blog in the Menlo Masters e-newsletter so I followed it here. Like most swimmers, I also like to read about swimming...I swim in group 3 (group 2 on a good day) in the afternoons. The CPF ratio is carbohydrate-protein-fat, or the percentages of each per serving.
sarah said…
Hi Jessica,
Glad you found me :).
Unknown said…
CPF carbs protein fat is my guess.

Popular posts from this blog

Tell me about yourself...

This is fun. I don't get to swim on Wednesdays so here's some (mostly) non-swimming information about me that I hope you will not use inappropriately against me. It's really fun to answer these questions if only for yourself. Do it. Then post them here because I'd love to know more about all of you! 1.) Q. Can you cook? A. Well, I can read, so I can follow a recipe. Can I make anything without a recipe? Yes: Cinnamon toast. 2.) Q. What was your dream growing up? A. To be happy. 3.) Q. What talent do you wish you had? A. I wish I could sing, big time! 4.) Q. Favorite place? A. California (home) 5.) Q. Favorite vegetable? A. Sweet Potato 6.) Q. What was the last book you read? A. To my kids: The Important Book, to myself: Slow Man 7.) Q. What zodiac sign are you? A. Sagittarius, but I put zero stock in signs 8.) Q. Any tattoo's or piercings? A. Yes, both 9.) Q. Worst habit? A. Never cleaning out my car 10.) Q. If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a...

PURE

The workout email said 3 x 1000's PURE for today and yes it was! Last night I read the short story "Swimming" in the recent New Yorker and this morning it came back to me. As T Cooper wrote, "You know that feeling (while swimming)...where you're pushing so hard that you understand how a body could just as easily die as live, that living is just the absence of death, and thus always in a relationship with death?" Yes, I know that feeling. All of us do, even if we haven't expressed it so eloquently. At those moments I tend to think about someone or something that has truly pissed me off recently, and I work out the anger. I imagine very inappropriate scenes where we (myself and that offending person) are in a group and they chance to say something slightly off-color. I rip into them and teach them a lesson about ignorance or bigotry or just plain pettiness, and they understand how base they have been. Okay, sometimes I also swimdream about the perfect par...