Guest Post Monday: Cheesy Grits with Garden Vegetables by Miranda Gellert

Please welcome Miranda Gellert, as she shares her recipe for Cheesy Grits with Garden Vegetables.  Grits are a classic American breakfast and comfort food that can be made even better with the addition of cheese, cheese, and more cheese.  Here, Miranda suggests the addition of caramelized onions, tomatoes, and spinach to liven up this everyday dish.-Helana———————From Miranda:
Creamy grits blended with 3 different cheeses layered with spinach, caramelized onions, and tomatoes. A new twist on an old-fashioned dish…cheesy vegetable goodness in every bite!

Guest Post Monday: Cheesy Grits with Garden Vegetables

This recipe is re-posted from Miranda’s My Favorite Things Blog (original can be found here).  To follow Miranda and her (clearly) delicious recipes, please subscribe to her Facebook page at The Breakfast Club–Ordinary People Who Love Extraordinary Food.

Ingredients:

*6 cups water

*6 cups 2 % milk

*2 teaspoons salt

*1 teaspoon white pepper, freshly ground (you can substitute black, but I prefer white for aesthetic reasons)

*4 tablespoon butter, divided

*1 1/2 cups stone ground white grits

*1/2 pound (or, 1 cup) white cheddar cheese, grated

*1/4 pound (or, 1/2 cup) yellow cheddar, grated

*1 tablespoon cooking oil

*1/2-3/4 cup caramelized onions

*2-3 cups spinach, washed and dried

*3/4 cup tomatoes, chopped

*1/4 pound (or, 1/2 cup) Provolone, grated

*Garnish: green onions, finely chopped

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED: 

*1- 9×11 in glass baking dish, such as a Pyrex

1.) In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the water, milk, salt, pepper, and half of the butter. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil. Stir in the grits. Cook for one hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The grits will stick to the bottom of the pan, so make sure not to scrape the bottom of the pan otherwise you will get a lot of unsightly brown bits in your grits. If the grits absorb all of the water before cooking time is complete, add some hot water to thin out the mixture.

2.) Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining two tablespoons butter and the yellow and white cheddar.

3.) In a large non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat and add onions.  Cook until brown and caramelized.  Add tomatoes and spinach, cooking until spinach is bright green and tomatoes are slightly roasted.

4.) Place cooked vegetables into an oven-safe baking dish and cover with warm grits.  Sprinkle with Provolone cheese and broil for approximately one minute so that cheese has time to melt and become bubbly (watch grits closely so the cheese and dish do not burn). Sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve.

Makes 6 servings.

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For more from Miranda Gellert, check-out her daily posts at the blog My Favorite Things (sometimes with several posts a day!) and her an incredibly active (and delicious) Facebook page, The Breakfast Club–Ordinary People Who Love Extraordinary Food. 

–Helana Brigman

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