I really love warm soft foods in the morning, especially since I have a sensitive stomach (s/o scorpio moon). I love food that hugs your tummy the way a hot bath hugs your body, like congee, hot chocolate, potato soup, soft scrambled eggs. And I also love food that are “foundational”, meaning they are the base and can be built on in various ways to encompass different flavor profiles, take on different lives dependent on the ingredients you use. One of my favorite additions is grits!

Grits come from ground corn, and are mainly made from white corn or hominy. I have been using polenta, which comes from yellow corns and are much coarser.

Bob’s Red Mill Corn Grits Polenta is what I’m using at the moment. Don’t follow the instruction on the bag, it doesn’t get you that mushy semi-sticky but moist and soft consistency you’d want.

Unit serving size: 1/4 cup of grits

Grits to Water Ratio: 1/4:1 1/2 (.25 cup to 1.5 cup of water), so if you are making 2 servings, you would use 1/2 cup of grits (.25 x 2) and 3 cups of water (1.5 x 2), so on and so forth.

Ingredients for Cheesy Grits

• Grits
• Water
• Butter or Vegan Butter (1-2 tablespoon)
• Cheddar Cheese or Vegan Cheese (however much you want, tbh)
• Salt & Black Pepper
• (Optional) White Pepper

Remember, the amount of water and grits is determined by how much grits you want to make.

Steps to Make Grits

1. Bring water and some salt (1-2 teaspoon) to boil, medium high heat.
2. Add grits into the water, stir so it is evenly distributed throughout. Bring the grits to boil, and turn the heat down to the lowest or a simmer setting. Cook on simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until it is at the desired consistency.
   *add more water and cook for longer, if water looks low but the grits are still not at the softness you would like*
3. Turn off heat. Stir in the butter, then stir in the cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

What makes this a “foundational” dish to me is the variety of “toppings” you can make – simple egg with some fresh herbs, sautéed vegetables, shrimp, sausages etc. I love shrimp and grits, and since I don’t eat meat anymore, I am still able to replicate the flavor profiles with just vegetables, which imo give more than the shrimp do anyway.

To have that tangy but flavorful, sometimes spicy (depending on preference) “sauce”, the basic ingredients to have are:

• Red Onions (important!), chopped into chunky pieces, think fajitas. 1-2 medium bulbs.
• Garlic, minced or finely chopped. 2-3 cloves.
• Bell Peppers 2-4 bell peppers, green and/or red. Remove stem and core, cut into 1-1.5 inch pieces.
• Tomatoes, 2-3 depending on the size or type of tomatoes. Cut into wedges or large cubes.
• Smoked Paprika
• Cumin
• Oregano (amazing if you can get fresh instead of dried)
• Salt and Pepper

I love adding mushrooms for more protein. You can always use alternative meat as well. If you want to use shrimp, then you would want to marinate the shrimp beforehand. Make sure they are shelled and deveined, cleaned and pat-dried.

My favorite spices to use for shrimp are –

• White Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper
• Smoked Paprika (peh-pah-reee-kaaah!)
• Cumin
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Salt & Black Pepper

Season accordingly. I don’t measure when I season, rather I gauge by quantity with my eyes and stop when I feel like there is enough…based on my own taste.

Drizzle olive oil after you put in all the spices onto the shrimp, and mix well. Let sit until you are ready to cook the shrimp.

Steps for Sautéed Topping

1. Heat up a medium to large skillet on medium high heat, once the skillet has some heat, add 2 tablespoon of Olive Oil.
2. Wait a bit so the oil is hot, add in the red onions and garlic, let it cook without salt for 1-2 minutes. This will bring out the sweetness of the onions more. Add a bit of salt and pepper to season the onions and garlic.
3. Add in the mushrooms, (I like to add coriander to my mushrooms), stir and saute for about 30 seconds. Add the bell peppers. Mix everything together and now you will season again, but for everything that’s in the skillet at this point – salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, white pepper, etc. Let cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes. Heat is still on medium high to high. Let the juice cook out. Stir occasionally, until everything is at the desired tenderness.
5. *If adding protein*, move everything in the skillet to the peripherals so there is an open space right in the center of the skillet. Add more olive oil if there is no grease, add the protein (I.e. shrimp) to the center. Cook the protein accordingly, and mix with the rest of the vegetables once the proteins are cooked. Remove from heat, and top onto your grits.
6. For shrimp, cook 1-2 on each side. Don’t try to stir fry them, so the edges can get crisped up.
7. Garnish with cilantro, parsley or scallions.

Tips for making the “tops”:

• Always taste and season along the way
• Don’t be afraid to experiment with different herbs, spices, or additional ingredients. However, sometimes the simpler the better.
• You can always make it spicier with dried chili flakes or fresh hot peppers of your liking.
• You can also add ketchup (but not too much!) or use it as a substitute for tomatoes

‍