last friday i attended the opening reception of light grey art lab‘s super cool foodies exhibition, which featured food-inspired art from talented artists all over the world, including yours truly!! this was probably the highlight of my year so far, other gems of which include having a tooth pulled and getting a blood transfusion. but seriously, it was such an honor to have been chosen to be a part of this. the exhibition involved coming up with a recipe that is meaningful to you and creating a work of art to represent it, then having your art displayed along with cutie little recipe cards at the gallery. so obviously i jumped at this opportunity and came up with the lil work of art pictured above.

this recipe is vaguely inspired by one from the wonderful vegan soul kitchen. i un-veganized it and changed a whole lot about it, but i’ve left you some suggestions for how to re-veganize it, if that’s your thing.

having never lived in the south, the meaningfulness behind this dish doesn’t so much have to do with it being a regional thing. but then i’ve lived in the midwest for 15 years and only just last week made and consumed my first ever hot dish. so that didn’t feel right either. what felt right-er was thinking about other places from which i could draw personal significance. winter of last year, i spent almost all of my time sick in bed, not unlike this past winter. and maybe sometimes you’re feeling pretty down because you’ve just lost an eye, your hair, your father, your friends, your planet and your uh…hammer (i still have all of these things but…) or at least all your energy and most of your motivation and all you have to keep you going is your morning bowl of ready-in-5-minutes grits with more parmesan cheese stirred in than person other than someone severely in need of putting on weight should ever ever consume. it’s the little things.

while it’s true that making this recipe asks more of you than merely letting cornmeal cook on the stove for a couple minutes, i was pretty half-dead while testing it a few weeks ago and still i managed to pull together a delicious bowl of reds and greens and yellows. and you can do it too, i believe in you.

if you’re in the twin cities, the foodies exhibition runs through may 20th so it’d sure be cool if you checked it out. otherwise all the fabulous art is archived online and there are prints and recipe cards!!!!!!! available on there as well.

-kara

fresh corn grits with cajun-spiced tomatoes and sauteed greens
serves 4

for the tomatoes:

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 leek, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

for the grits:

  • 3 and 1/4 cups fresh corn kernels (about 5 ears of corn)
  • kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 yelllow onion, diced
  • 1/3 cup whole milk (or plant milk of choice to make vegan)
  • 1 tbsp butter (optional)
  • 1/3 cup grated gruyere cheese (optional)
  • 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil

for the greens:

  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 bunch collard greens, torn into bite-sized pieces

instructions

to make the tomatoes:

combine tomatoes, lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl and toss well. cover and refrigerate at least 10 minutes, then drain. meanwhile, combine all spices and remaining 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl and mix well. set aside. heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. add the leeks and saute until they are browning. add remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and spice mixture. quickly stir, then remove from heat and immediately toss with tomatoes.

to make the grits:

in a food processor, coarsely puree 3 cups of the corn kernels, setting aside the remaining 1/4 cup. stir in a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. add onion and saute until just beginning to brown. pour in corn puree and milk, and cook until thickened, 6-8 minutes, sitrring occasionally. stir in the butter and cheese if using, as well as the remaining 1/4 cup corn. cook just until the cheese and butter have melted, then remove from heat and stir in the basil and more salt and pepper to taste.

to make the greens:

heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. add greens and cook, stirring often, until just wilted.

to serve:

divide the grits into bowls, then top with a spoonful each of the tomato mixture and the collard green mixture. enjoy!