Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Adding pureed beans to a variety of dishes for added flavor, texture, and health benefits is a great way to eat well. We do it all the time and think of it as "two-fers" when we add a little something extra that is healthful to a dish that already tastes good, but might lack high nutritional value. So long as it's real food, why not? As far as cheese fondue being high in saturated fats, I'd rather eat a small amount of the real thing, that is a cheese fondue made with real cheese, good wine or beer, and a puree of organic beans - with a side of organic apples and good bread for dipping.

My Grandmother (from Amalfi) often made Polenta, and she cooked hers rather quickly. She taught me to:
Bring 9 cups of lightly salted water to a boil in a large covered pot over high heat. Before adding cornmeal, I put on oven mitts to protect my hands from any "leaping polenta." Once the water reaches a boil, I slowly add 2 cups of cornmeal (sometimes I like to combine fine and coarse ground), whisking (I always use a long, commercial whisk to protect my hands)continuously as I slowly pour in the cornmeal in a thin stream. Next, I turn down the heat to allow for a low steady boil, as I whisk continuously for about 5 minutes until the polenta is the consistency I like, which is soft. If you prefer your Polenta more firm, cook it a bit longer. Remove from the heat. Carefully (it's extremely hot) taste for seasonings. Turn onto a large deep platter, spoon hot Marinara Sauce over the top, Either dollop with fresh ricotta and or freshly grated Pecorino Romano, and a few grinds of black pepper. That's our favorite way to enjoy polenta. I hope you'll make Polenta many times and try to enjoy it many different ways, too. My Mom sometimes tops hers with kidney beans cooked with onions and sausages. Have fun.

I found it interesting when reading this, which took me some time to find again once I signed up, that so may of you have suggested the use of soy to replace milk, and the use of margerine. I posted something someplace else saying I can help with recipes like what you are looking for but margerine is NOT soy free. I have not found ONE single margerine yet that does not contain soy, including Earth Balance brand. Milk itself, if the cows are fed conventional feed, contains soy, as do eggs and meat. It is possible to get alternatives, grass fed beef and hard to find soyfree grain fed eggs but they are costly. I have come up with many good ways to get past what I can't have . It takes time and effort but one can accumuate a good cache of foods to eat free of soy, eggs, meat and dairy. Beware though of the hidden soy names. Synthetic vitamin E is soy based. It goes by the name Tocopherol. Also, if your product specifies "natural flavoring" soy is likely a part of that as well. You would be amazed at how many teas include soy and or natural flavorings.

@SSmom--my friend's son is allergic to dairy and soy and wheat and a whole bunch of other stuff, so he'd never had a cookie in his young life. One day his mom made Rice Krispy Treats with margarine. He LOVED them and told his mom, he loved her. Sometimes a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.

Thanks so much, Christina, for mentioning my blog here. I thought I'd just clarify that ALL of my recipes are egg free and dairy free! Where I use soymilk occasionally in my baking, you can replace almond milk with virtually no change in results.

The site again is http://dietdessertndogs.wordpress.com

Thanks!
Ricki :)

I absolutely love meyer lemons and frankly prefer them over the regular (Eureka) variety. I made a super easy lemon curd http://figswithbri.com/?p=91
that you might want to try. They are great in salad dressings, as the only acid, or in combination with orange juice or vinegar. At the height of citrus season, I love to make a multi-citrus juice for brunch and include in (varying proportions) ruby red grapefruit, tangerines, oranges and...meyer lemons. The meyers cut the sweetness a little and give more depth of flavor. The zest is spectacular in all kinds of sweet and savory applications as well. Dips, fruit salads, dressings, desserts...you name it. What a treat that you are being given so many. If you made up a bunch of lemon curd, you could give them as gifts for Valentines Day.