Polenta Mexican Pie

This is another easy, tastey recipe. I made it for the first time tonight as an experiment and it was a hit with the adults in the house.

Polenta Mexican pie

Precooked sun dried polenta- sliced in rounds
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 tub chicken seiten
3 ounces black olives (half a 6oz. can)
Medium spiced salsa
1 large ripe avocado
Daiya "cheese" or shredded Follow Your Heart :cheese" (these are vegan cheese substitutes that do not contain casein)


Preheat oven to 400. Use a pyrex dish or a glass pie dish. Drain the liquid from the seiten and in a bowl toss white pepper, cumin and any other spices that you like in Mexican foods together to coat the seiten. Slice the polenta into rounds and place them on the bottom of the dish. Empty the beans into a colander and rinse. Top the polenta with the black beans and seiten. break up the olives into 2 pieces and place them on top of the setien. Sprinkle the "cheese" shreds and top them off with Salsa. Place the remaining polenta slices on top of everything and bake for 15 minutes then check to make sure the polenta is turning slightly brown. Add more cheese shreds if desired. Turn the oven down to 350 and set the oven to broil for 15 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let cool. Top with avocado slices. Serve
Now there are many variations for this recipe. Many things like mushrooms, corn, potatoes, garlic or cilantro could be added. The salsa could be added after it has cooked as it adds water to the dish. If you do this you will not need to cook it for 30 minutes and I would check it after 15 minutes because the polenta and beans are already cooked. Any type of bean can be used as well. The setien is chewing in texture and not everyone likes it. It is made from wheat gluten so if that is something you are trying to avoid just leave it out. Of course you could make guacamole to top it off instead of using avocado slices. Be creative! It is an easy dinner.