Wholly satisfying? Check.  Crap load of flavor? Check. Interesting tuber so good when roasted it will entice your eaters to say, “Oh! What’s THAT? I want more of that, lady!” Check. This is one of the best meals I have made this season with a great mix of excellent tastes and textures. The creamy polenta is amazing against the slightly crisped garlic, sprouts and sunchokes. It looks beautiful and tastes even better.

The great thing is you can still get creamy polenta without any dairy but if you want to add it, feel free. I made this one vegan so it would be a terrific main, but it would be a standout side dish, too.

Ingredients for about 4 servings: 

• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup polenta or yellow cornmeal (that’s all polenta is guys, its crazy)
• 1-3 tablespoons of vegan butter
• 1 cup washed, halved sunchokes (also called Jerusalem Artichokes, aka the interesting tuber)
• 1 cup halved Brussels sprouts
• 6-8 whole cloves of garlic
• olive oil,rosemary*, salt, and pepper for roasting *optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. On a baking pan, spread out your sunchokes, Brussels sprouts and garlic. Drizzle and season liberally with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper.
3. Pop in the oven for 25 minutes or so. Toss about ten minutes in to prevent any burning.

Then…as your kitchen begins to smell of garlic and heaven…

1. Bring your vegetable stock to a boil. Add salt.
2. Slowly, using a whisk, add your polenta to the stock.
3. Turn down your heat and stir until its incorporated into the stock and not sitting at the bottom. Cover.
4. Continue to stir vigorously every ten minutes so it doesn’t stick to the sides or bottom.
5. After about 30-40 minutes, add butter. (If using cheese, this is the time to add it.)
6. Plate your polenta and add veggies on top.