Cheese Grits With Spinach, Roasted Tomatoes, and Poached Eggs

Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.  It’s where I live.  I love it here.

The island is not a hot bed of grit eating activity.

I point this out because, a few months back, I mentioned on my Facebook page that you can’t buy grits in the grocery stores here and my comment caused great consternation among my friends in the south-eastern US.  So much so that one of my friends - Janet O’Melia - mailed me grits all the way from Georgia.

Well, Janet, I can’t thank you enough.  I’m here to tell you that you’ve made a convert of me.  I love me some grits, especially cheese grits, and have gone to such lengths to get more that one of our local grocers is now stocking them for me.  :)

Grits are whole kernel corn that has been dried and coarsely ground.  Hominy grits – the ones I’ve fallen in love with – are whole kernel corn that is soaked in an alkaline solution before drying.  This process turns the kernels white, softens the outer hull, and gives them a very mild flavour.  The ground corn (either yellow or hominy) is cooked in water or milk to make a porridge-like dish that is served with either sweet or savoury accompaniments. 

Every culture seems to have a food like grits:  a stodgy, filling, high calorie food that is both inexpensive to purchase and easy to store.  These foods vary in their raw materials - from cereal grains like oats, wheat, and corn, through rice, beans, potatoes, and other root vegetables - but their place and purpose within their cultures of origin is largely the same:  They are the food that fueled workers as they laboured in the fields.  They needed to be high enough in calories to sustain hard physical labour, rich enough in nutrients to sustain health when little else was available, and plentiful and inexpensive enough to be accessed by even the poorest worker.  Universally, they are the foods upon which cuisines are built.

My conversations with Facebook friends and my searches on the internet tell me that grits are most often served as a savoury dish and that the most popular way to serve them, by far, is with cheese.  That works for me.  I love cheese, and the added dairy bumps up the protein content of the finished dish significantly.

What I didn’t expect, and what I like most of all about cheese grits, is how comforting a dish they are.  They’re like macaroni and cheese in snuggly blanket form:  Cold weather food.  I’m having a bad day food.  Getting started in the morning with a smile food.  I’ve come to like them so much that I now consider grits a pantry necessity.

Filling, affordable, and high in protein are all attributes that recommend cheese grits as a perfect Meatless Monday meal.  I love serving mine with eggs and have experimented with adding various vegetables to the mix.  

My favourite combination so far is cheese grits with spinach stirred in, topped with roasted tomatoes and a poached egg.  The snuggly cheese grit blanket is a wonderful foil for the dark, earthy flavour of the spinach and the bright acidity of the tomato.  The egg yolk adds richness.  Some freshly ground, coarse black pepper adds bite.  So good!

Here’s how you make it.  For two people, you’ll need:

• 1 – 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach
• 2 to 4 eggs (This depends upon how hungry you are.  It’s a filling dish so we usually have just a single egg each.)
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons (approximately) olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 3 Tablespoons quick cooking hominy grits
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup grated, sharp cheddar cheese

On the day you plan to make the dish, set the spinach out on the counter to thaw. 

When the spinach is thawed, wrap it in or a piece of old sheet or a clean kitchen towel and squeeze as much moisture from it as you can.  

The squeezed spinach will form a fairly solid lump.  Use a fork to break it apart.

You'll only need about half to three quarters of the spinach.  Put the rest in the fridge and use it for another recipe.

Poach your eggs and set them aside to drain on paper towel.  If you’re poaching them more than a few minutes ahead of time, you’ll want to store them in the fridge.

Cut each tomato into 8 pieces and remove the seeds. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment and put the tomatoes on the lined pan. 

Drizzle the tomato pieces with olive oil, season them with salt and pepper, and toss them so that the ingredients coat each piece.  Spread them around on the paper so that there’s room for air to circulate around each piece.

Roast the tomatoes in a 400F oven for 20 to 30 minutes.  They should dry out a bit, and the skins should begin to shrivel and maybe even darken a little around the edges.

While the tomatoes are roasting, begin cooking the grits.  Place the milk, grits, and salt in a very large bowl (milk expands a LOT when it’s heated to boiling), cover the bowl loosely with a lid or some parchment, and microwave the grits on “high” for 3 minutes, stopping to stir them every minute or so. 

Return the grits in their covered bowl to the microwave and continue cooking them on the lowest setting (“keep warm” on my microwave) for 15 to 20 minutes longer, stirring every 5 minutes.  

While the grits are cooking, put a pot of water on to simmer so you can reheat the eggs.

When the grits have thickened and softened, they should look something like this:

Stir in the cheese and the spinach.  Add a generous grind of pepper and put them back in the microwave for a minute, to heat the spinach through and melt the cheese. 

While the spinach and cheese are heating through, pop the eggs into the simmering water to reheat.

To plate your meal, spoon the grits and spinach mixture into a bowl.  Top it with some of the roasted tomatoes.  Use a slotted spoon to remove your eggs from the simmering water, and place them on a paper towel to blot away any extra water.  Carefully transfer the eggs to the top each serving.

Serve immediately.

So good!
_____________________________________

This post is linked to Gallery of Favorites hosted by The 21st Century Housewife and Premeditated Leftovers, to The Pity Party hosted by Thirty Handmade Days, to Foodie Fridays hosted by Rattlebridge Farm, to Foodie Friends Friday hosted by Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom, Robyn at Robyn’s View, Angie at A lil Country Sugar, Michelle at From Calculus to Cupcakes, Marlys at This and That, Lois at Walking on Sunshine, Lindsey at Family Food Finds, Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings, Cynthia at Feeding Big, Jodie at Binomial Baker, Erika at Chef Picky Kid, R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade, Jutta at Hungry Little Girl, Kelly at Adorned Well, to Foodtastic Friday hosted by Not Your Ordinary Recipes, to Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest hosted by Fresh Eggs Friday, to Foodie Friday hosted by Home Maid Simple, and Simple Living and Eating, to Strut Your Stuff Saturday hosted by Six Sisters' Stuff, to Nifty Thrifty Sunday hosted by Nifty Thrifty Things, to Weekend Potluck hosted by Sunflower Supper Club, Life As a Lofthouse, 4 Little Fergusons, The Country Cook, Meet Penny, The Better Baker, to Your Great Ideas Saturday hosted by Or So She Says, to Think Pink Sunday hosted by Flamingo Toes, to Sumptuous Sunday hosted by Addicted to Recipes, to A Marvelous Mess hosted by Marvelously Messy, to Craft-o-Maniac Monday hosted by Craft-o-Maniac, to Busy Monday hosted by A Pinch of Joy, to Manic Monday hosted by Bobbi's Cozy Kitchen, to Mix It Up Monday hosted by Flour Me With Love, to On the Menu Monday hosted by Stone Gable,  to Delicious Dish Tuesday hosted by  Full Time Mama, Coping With Frugality, and Mama Chocolate, to the Tuesday To Do Party hosted by The Blackberry Vine, to Cast Party Wednesday hosted by Lady Behind The Curtain, to Wonderful Wednesday hosted by Printabelle, and to Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage.