Basic Polenta, Version I, HTCE, p. 187

I made this polenta as a side dish for a dinner party I hosted. (I also served chinese style pork spare ribs, basic boiled kale, mashed sweet potatoes, cole slaw, and Terence made fake baked beans). I am never sure whether to call this dish polenta or grits because as far as I can tell, they're fundamentally the same thing. It's basically corn meal cooked in a liquid and at then end, cheese is added to it. Polenta, of course, sounds fancier than cheesy grits, so I'm posting this recipe under "polenta". Plus I followed Bittman's Basic Polenta recipe (Version I) when making them. One modification I made to the recipe which makes it much less Italian, and much more American is instead of using parmesean or blue cheese as is specified in the recipe, I used an aged cheddar. Sometimes, when T & I are feeling very lazy, we'll make a batch of this polenta and at the very end, mix in some kale and have a one-bowl dinner.