Kiss My Grits!

Pan Fried Polenta with Fresh Tomatoes and Cannelli Beans

During my last visit to Trader Joes, I picked up this peculiar fat tube of yellow mushy stuff. In all of my years of eating, preparing, cooking Italian food, I have never thought to try Polenta. I mean, I always knew it was corn meal, a classy version of grits, you can say, so knowing that I have passed on this staple of what I call the "Olive Garden" italian kitchen. Maybe because when I have seen it prepared, it was deep fried, or drenched in fatty sauces, not foxy. So tonight, I broke out the organic polenta and followed the recipe below. You can use any type of bean, I am thinking that if I did this again I could do a black bean, mango, corn salsa. It was a nice vegetarian meal, tasty, light and fresh. 

Ingredients
2 ½ cups chopped ripe tomatoes
1 cup canned cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup chopped fresh basil
½ teaspoon each salt & black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (16 ounce) package prepared polenta, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions


1. Stir together tomatoes, beans, basil, salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes to blend flavors. (I added a drizzle of olive oil.)

2. Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add half the polenta slices to skillet; cook until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes, turning once. Remove polenta from skillet. Repeat with remaining oil and polenta slices.

3. Arrange polenta on a serving plate. Spoon tomato-bean mixture on top. Sprinkle with cheese and garnish with basil.

Makes 4 servings