Herbed Polenta Fries

A red spot appeared on the tip of my nose last month, right around the time that "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" had its annual airing on TV. After I saved Christmas by guiding Santa's sleigh through the fog, I went to the dermatologist. The spot turned out to be actinic keratosis and not a big deal; I've had these patches before. Sometimes they go away on their own, and once I had one removed.

I have chosen not to airbrush away my red spot so that it may serve as a reminder to us all to wear sunscreen religiously. Unrelatedly, I wear a hat all the time these days because it has been COLD!!

But this particular blemish sticks out in my mind because it literally sticks out from my face. I had to run some errands after the biopsy, and I dreaded walking into stores with a ridiculous bandage on the tip of my nose, but something interesting happened when I did. People studiously avoided looking at my ridiculous bandage. They looked anywhere else to avoid making me feel awkward.

You know the expression "can't see past your nose"? Everyone I encountered literally saw past my nose, offering proof that we all have it in us to act with awareness, empathy, and foresight.

On a larger scale, we are capable of understanding that our daily choices can either fuel or fight the climate crisis that contributes to natural disasters like the horrific Los Angeles wildfires. Minimizing our meat and dairy consumption is one choice that helps fight climate change, because animal agriculture contributes disproportionately to the food sector's sizeable greenhouse gas emissions. 

I like meat. I treat guests to bacon, for example, when they come over for brunch. But the word "treat" is key: Meat is not an everyday part of my diet, because I feel a responsibility to help keep the planet livable.

A couple nights ago I used two recipes from Ilene Godofsky Moreno's "The Colorful Kitchen" cookbook to make a vegan dinner. My backup dancers and I agreed that the "Creamy, Chunky, Cheesy Broccoli Soup," was mediocre, but the "Herbed Polenta Fries" were outstanding! 

The fries take some time to mix, set, and bake, but some of the work can (must, actually) be done in advance, giving you some scheduling flexibility. I had only fine-ground cornmeal but it worked perfectly. We greedily dipped the the fries in tomato sauce and polished them off. 

The orange streak across the soup is smoked paprika, my favorite spice.