Ingredients:
1 cup white or whole wheat quinoa, uncooked
2 cups water
4 tablespoons Earth Balance Buttery Spread (I used real organic butter)
1/2 cup organic milk, soymilk, or other milk subsitute
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast (high in vitamin B, if you don't have it you should invest in some!)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra for seasoning greens
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 large bunch mustard greens
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Directions:
Place quinoa, water and 1 T of the Earth Balance Buttery Spread into a small pot with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. After 10-12 minutes, turn off heat, and keep covered while preparing mustard greens.
Rinse & de-stem mustard greens & tear leaves into bite-sized pieces. (It's key that the mustard greens are torn to small pieces. I like them, but not a huge mouthful at a time!) Heat oil in large pan over medium-high heat and add red pepper flakes (if using) stirring once, then add mustard greens and salt to taste. Toss with tongs, cover and turn heat to low, allowing greens to steam while preparing the creamy polenta.
To prepare the creamy polenta, in same cooking pot as quinoa add remaining 3 T of Earth Balance Buttery Spread, nutritional yeast, and salt. Using an immersion blender, blend well, slowly adding soymilk until desired creamy consistency is achieved. adjust milk amount as needed.
TO SERVE: spoon warm polenta onto plate with main dish, top with mustard greens and sprinkle with almonds. Serve immediately.
NOTE: slivered almonds can be easily toasted in toaster oven by placing almonds in single layer on a baking sheet and toasting on low setting for less than a minute. Keep an eye so they do not burn!