Creamy sage polenta with exotic mushrooms

Exotic mushrooms with hard-to-pronounce names are now being grown in the UK, which is good news as they are not only delicious but come with many health benefits too. Varieties such as enoki, shiitake, oyster and shimeji are becoming more widely available, and are immune-boosting wonders.

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the polenta

• 500ml milk or almond milk
• 200ml water
• 1 sprig of sage (about 6 leaves), plus extra fried in a little Lucy Bee coconut oil until crisp, to serve (optional)
• 75g instant polenta
• 1 tsp Himalayan salt
• 1 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil, melted
• 15g Parmesan, grated

For the mushrooms

• 1 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil
• 150g mixed exotic mushrooms
• Dash of gluten-free fish sauce
• 80g broccoli, cut into small florets and steamed
• Himalayan salt and ground black pepper

Method

1. Put the milk, water and sage into a saucepan and bring almost to the boil. Pour in the polenta and salt, whisking as you go, and continue to whisk over a low heat until the polenta is a porridge-like consistency, 5-7 minutes.

2. Stir in the melted coconut oil and remove from the heat. Remove the sage and add the Parmesan, stirring with a wooden spoon.

3. For the mushrooms, heat the coconut oil in large frying pan and add the mushrooms. Sauté for a couple of minutes, adding the fish sauce, until tender. Stir in the steamed broccoli florets and season to taste.

4. Serve the creamy polenta in shallow bowls with the mushrooms on top, garnished with crispy fried sage leaves, if using.

From Coconut Oil: Nature’s Perfect Ingredient. Recipe text © 2015 Lucy Bee Limited.