Polenta with Pumpkin and Kale

Ingredients

 * water
 * 4 cup loosely packed chopped kale
 * (or spinach)
 * 1 cup chopped Onion
 * 1 tbsp minced fresh jalapeno
 * 3/4 tsp ground cumin
 * 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
 * 6 cloves garlic, minced
 * 1 cup sliced Mushrooms
 * 1 14 5 oz can (no salt added)
 * tomatoes, undrained and
 * chopped
 * 1/2 tsp salt
 * 1/2 tsp pepper
 * 1 16 oz can mashed cooked
 * pumpkin
 * basic polenta (see below)
 * cooking spray
 * 1 cup (4 oz) shredded no-fat swiss
 * Cheese (totally optional)

Directions
Heat a large dutch oven, non-stick or sprayed with pam. Add onions and push around to brown a little. Add a few tbsp water and stir to unstick from bottom. Add chopped kale or spinach and stir about 5 minutes until all is wilted and onions are translucent. Add more water as needed to prevent burning. Add jalapeno, cumin, cinnamon and garlic, saute 3 minutes. Stir in Mushrooms, cover and cook 5 minutes, stir in tomatoes, cover and cook 5 minutes, add salt, pepper and mashed pumpkin and stir well. Cook uncovered 3 minutes, stirring well. Remove from heat. Prepare basic polenta, spread half in 11x7x2 inch baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Spread pumpkin mixture evenly over polenta. Sprinkle with Swiss cheese (optional) spread remaining polenta evenly over. Bake at 375 °F for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Yeild 6 servings. Basic polenta: 1 ¼ cups cornmeal ½ teaspoon salt 4 cups water Place cornmeal and salt in large saucepan. Gradually add water, stirring constantly with a wire wisk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cook uncovered 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Yeild 4 cups. Microwave method: place cornmeal and salt in a 3 quart microwave cassarole. Gradually add water, stirring until blended. Cover, microwave on high 12 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes. Let stand covered 5 minutes. I made this two times, the first time i couldn"t find kale in the particular grocery store that i went to so i used spinach. I used the microwave method for polenta since i tend to scorch things and it worked great. The first 2 times i stirred i wasn"t sure it was going to thicken by the time it finished it was perfect and it sure is easy to just set the timer for 3 minutes and stir when it beeps. The non-fat Cheese is totally optional, in fact i shredded it then forgot to put it in the first time. In is fine without Cheese, but the Cheese tasted good on the microwaved leftovers too. (the only edible non-fat Cheese i"ve found is called lifetime brand and they don"t sell it in every store here). The effect is rather like lasagna but different