Instructions: If you read most recipes for making polenta, you get the image of a cook with arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger stirring corn meal mush with a wooden spoon as sturdy as a Louisville Slugger for what seems like an eternity.

Who has the time and energy to do that these days?

Well, with instant polenta, you dont need the time, the biceps or the bat.

Though Im wary of many instant foods, instant polenta, which cooks in less than 5 minutes (vs. 30 minutes or more for regular polenta), is good stuff and a worthy addition to any 15-minute meal pantry. Like noodles or rice, polenta is a vehicle for soaking up the juices from stews, savory sauces and ragouts.

Or use polenta as a starch like mashed potatoes with roasted or sauteed meats or poultry. (I like it with Venetian-style calfs liver and onions.) Most recipes for polenta use water, but you can make a richer polenta with milk. Or split the difference by using nonfat milk. You can also enrich polenta with butter and Parmesan cheese. Blue cheese like Gorgonzola gives polenta a nice tang.

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