POLENTA CASSEROLE

I have eaten polenta a few times previously at restaurants but never purchased or cooked with it.  It turns out that working with prepared polenta, sold in an 18-ounce tube, is ridiculously easy.  There were several flavor variations available; I went with traditional Italian.  The recipe calls for 2.5 cups of any kind of cooked beans, and rather that crack open another can, I raided the dry staples section of my pantry and came up with a bag of mini red beans.  I took 1.5 cups dry beans and performed the quick soak method (boil 2 minutes, soak for an hour, change water, boil for ~2.5 hours until tender, drain), and the result was well worth the extra effort.  The beans were mixed with tomato sauce, several spices, balsamic vinegar, and agave nectar to cut the acidity.  The bean mixture made up the lower layer in the casserole, with the polenta and vegan mozzarella (Follow Your Heart brand) mixture making up the upper crust.  The finished Polenta Casserole barely saw the light of day.  We gobbled just about all of it up for Christmas Day dinner.