Monday, July 1, 2013

Creamy Polenta & Cilantro Lime Shrimp




This weekend, I took over mom duties 
for a household of 3 children and 2 dogs. 

JC Penny's commercials make mom duties look like
nothin' but cookouts and kids with an adorably absent front tooth
hugging your business-casual khaki-clad leg as you
gallop and grin infront of a white back drop.

In my field studies on said mom duties, my findings conclude
that this representation is wholeheartedly 
INACCURATE.

While affordable khakis may carry some weight in motherhood,
one must also be prepared to handle
the occasional mental breakdown of a 4 year old in a park port-o-potty,
the super-speed vanishing powers of Chuck E. Cheese tokens,
bellies that can pack away more Goldfish crackers than a SAMS Club employee
and gingerly explain the lyrics to "Grease Lightning" 
to the best of your PG abilities. 

One must be able to field questions such as
"Can I break this because it's SOOO DUMB!?"
and
"What do you do with your boobs if you want to be a boy for halloween?"

Shit's hard, guys. 

So, in preparation, I made myself a vat of this polenta goodness before
said weekend to have some strength stuck to my ribs to endure 
all of this impending madness. 

And, if things didn't go so well, to have some leftovers to cry into when it was all over. 







Much to my fortune, I survived. 
And had a great time, in spite of all aforementioned madness. 

No crying into leftovers. Just falling asleep halfway through a bowl of them. 








The polenta and shrimp taste wonderfully summery 
and fantastic all by themselves,
but I chose to throw some roasted baby tomatoes 
into the mix and top my bowl with a 
poached egg.

The tomatoes bring a nice sweetness and color
and add to the seasonal "ness" of the dish. 
The poached egg is great because, well, poached eggs taste 
good on everything. 
But especially on this because the yolk works as a sauce
and marries everything together nicely. 






This dish is simple and great for serving big groups
...or yourself for a week...
whatever.


Stay strong, moms. 
Until the next!


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