Would you eat Buckwheat or Polenta? Here's how to make nice meals from them

So, I have turned vegetarian.  How can I avoid eating a diet of lentils and rice?

I have turned to some traditional foods and given them a modern take. I managed to turn what is usually described a boring peasant food (polenta) into quite delicious meals option. My husband told me that his mother used to make it for them and invite them to try delicious peasant fare - to which he and his brothers responded "Give it back to the peasants".

How did I do make these treats that even my fussy "know-it-all" husband would appreciate?

I "livelied" up polenta with beetroot, mushrooms, herbs, onions, garlic, simple & fresh olive oil or butter. [Beetroot polenta - below]

[Buckwheat dish below] 

 

 

 

I bought good quality Italian precooked polenta, which I cooked for 5 minutes with organic veggie stock (Kallo) and baked it in the cake tin in the oven for an extra 20 minutes.

 

My husband was really pleasantly surprised after he tasted my onion, garlic, mushroom & beetroot polenta and said that he actually liked it. 

I served it with olive oil and a baked salmon fillet.  He assures me that he wasn't just saying it to be nice. No, really - okay, enough... on with the buckwheat.

 

 

Buckwheat is my current favourite meal. I could eat almost every second day -with butter. I believe it is not only delicious food packed with vitamins & minerals, but also it helpful when we suffer bad sore throats.  My husband violently disagrees :) 

 

I cooked it with mushrooms, organic vegetarian stock and butter.

Then I popped cheese topping and a bit of tomato sauce and baked it for 20 minutes in 180 C.

 

The big trick with buckwheat it is to cook it in boiling salt water or hot stock for 15 -20 minutes.

You can make it more fluffy by putting it in your bed, under your pillow, duvet cover and give her a good rest.

 

A rested Orla is much calmer and my buckwheat is much fluffier, which gives this amazing indescribable taste.