Fiesta Pork and Cheesy Polenta- Rachel Ray Everyday

I picked up a copy of Rachel Ray's magazine, Everyday, last month to see if I could find something interesting. A lot of people find Rachel annoying, but I love her. The fact that she has inspired millions of people to start cooking negates any lack of culinary training, in my opinion. She finds ways to make delicious things in a quick amount of time, which is right up my alley.

So, I'm really excited because this recipe completed a 2 recipe day!! After making the corn & cheese enchiladas for lunch I confirmed that a friend would be coming over for dinner. I'd been wanting to try this recipe out and had everything on hand, so I went with it!

I bought a pork tenderloin at the supermarket. It was about 1/2 of what I needed, so I cut it in half and put the rest in the freezer for another time. I sliced up the pork, coated with the spices, and set aside. Then, I sliced up the scallions and peppers, measured out my ingredients and put everything aside for when it was time to make dinner. Once it was time, I can't believe how quick this was to make! By the time the polenta was done (instant polenta, mind you) the pork and veggies were ready to go! The polenta itself was a little intimidating. I've never made it before, so I made sure to follow the recipe to a T. I boiled the water and added the polenta, salt, and pepper. It clumped up quickly, which really worried me! Once it was stirred, I added the cream and cheese and just kept stirring like crazy. Luckily, the clumps were nonexistant when all was said and done.

I put the polenta on the plate and topped it with the pork mixture. It was such a beautiful presentation! The pork was so tender, the spices worked nicely, and I loved the contrast in textures between the corn and the polenta. I really found this to be a fantastic dish. Shawn wasn't thrilled with the texture of the polenta- it is similar to cream of wheat and he didn't like how it starts to firm up as it cools down. Dana and I disagreed and thought it made the dish.

All in all, I think this is a fabulous dish to make when you have company and want to impress with little fuss. It took me 10 minutes to prep, 10 minutes to cook and voila! Fabulous dish that looks amazing.

Fiesta Pork with Cheesy Polenta- Rachel Ray Everyday
http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-index/dinner-recipes/Fiesta-Pork-and-Cheesy-Polenta