LEMON BERRY POLENTA CAKE

This recipe caught my eye as I love lemons and berries and thought it would add a nice touch to my Mexican dinner. I do not usually make desserts but today is an exception. I made substitutions since I did not want to make date syrup, maple syrup is too sweet for me, and I could not find a healthy apricot preserve at the store. My version is not very sweet but I like it that way.

You may be asking yourself: What is the difference between polenta, grits, and cornmeal?

Polenta is actually an Italian dish made with a coarse cornmeal mostly from a class of corn called flint corn.

Grits are a Southern dish made from a somewhat coarse cornmeal mostly from a class of corn called dent corn.

Cornmeal is ground corn of any variety and can be ground to be fine, medium, or coarse.

Manufacturers make things confusing by mixing these terms on package labels.

Find recipe at “Plant Plate”: Lemon Berry Polenta Cake.

Dr. Michael Greger and Dr. Joel Fuhrman recommend eating some berries every day. Why? Because berries are the healthiest of all fruits due to their antioxidant pigments. They can help you fight problems such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high cholesterol and inflammation. As a bonus, they can help protect you against the signs of aging.

Here is a 2 minute video by Dr. Greger comparing the antioxidants in different berries.

What I did differently:

-Used finely ground organic corn meal

-Used white (ivory) whole wheat flour

-Did not use any maple/date syrup or apricot preserves. Instead I put 1/3 cup of packed organicd dried pitted dates and 1/4 cup of packed organic dried apricots in a bowl and barely covered with water. I let the fruit soak for 1 and 1/2 hours. The remaining liquid measured about 1/4 cup. I added the dried fruits, remaining liquid, and almond milk to a high speed blender and processed until smooth.

-Used half raspberries, half wild blueberries