Good question!

Polenta is prepared with corn meal. Like wheat and oats, corn is actually a grain and not a vegetable as many people might think.

If you choose whole grain cornmeal to make your polenta it could be a nutritious substitute for the whole grain breads called for in any of my sample menus. However, to keep it similar in nutritional value you do want to make sure you are choosing whole grain corn.

I’ve noticed that many corn meal products and already prepared polenta as sold in the grocery store are not made from whole grain. For example, Quaker Oats has a new corn meal product that would seem to be a good choice. But if you read the label you will see that it is made from degerminated corn.

To keep the calorie count similar be mindful of which polenta recipe you choose to make. Butter and cheese are common ingredients that add flavor. Go easy with these as the calories (and saturated fat) can add up quickly.

Also, choose to grill, bake, or maybe saute rather than fry to keep the calorie count down.

One slice of whole grain bread typically has about 70 to 100 calories. That gives you a value to keep in mind if you are substituting polenta for bread in a low calorie sample menu.

To learn more about making polenta you may want to read an excellent article I found on the Healthy Eats blog:

http://blog.healthyeats.com/blog/2009/07/16/meet-this-grain-polenta/

To make plain polenta without butter or cheese:

http://caloriecount.about.com/sams-plain-polenta-recipe-r106873

To make polenta with fresh veggies and a little parmesan cheese:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes/nu00535

Hope this helps!

Lori