Creamy Vegan Polenta

As much as I love a good vegetarian meal, I have to admit, it’s a challenge for me to go full-vegan. Cheese is my favorite food in the world, and cream and butter always make everything taste better, don’t they? 

This creamy polenta from Simply Recipes made me forget I was eating a vegan dish though. It’s a great healthy meal for vegans, vegetarians or our lactose intolerant friends. The polenta gets its creaminess from blended white beans and its cheesy flavor from nutritional yeast. Before this recipe, I admit, I didn’t know that nutritional yeast existed or that it can be used as substitute for cheesy flavors (read more about this in Simply Recipe’s post). And, to be honest, I actually left it out when I made this recipe. The polenta still tasted great!

In addition to being topped with roasted broccoli, it also suggests topping it with chili oil. The good news here is that each person can add as much or as little of this as he or she wants (meaning none for younger children or anyone who doesn’t like spice). When making the oil, I also suggest using far less olive oil than the recipe calls for so you can get as much heat as you want without feeling like you’re eating olive oil by the spoonful. 

Enjoy! Let us know what you think!