Deconstructed Fried Green Tomatoes

Well, okay so they aren't completely DECONSTRUCTED, but I LOVE Fried Green Tomatoes and I'm avoiding fried foods...for several reasons.  I've been trying to make things I could substitute.  Last time it was an oven baked Fried Green Tomato.  The outside burned and the tomatoes weren't soft enough.  Yuck.  I mean, it was okay, but just not that comfort food feeling that Fried Green Tomatoes gives me.  The sweet and tart softness just makes a yummy right in my mouth!

This one should do the trick, though. It certainly works for me!  It's a very simple polenta (shhhh, I microwaved it) and grilled slices of green tomato. Now, you polenta purists out there will probably not like this because it's more like yellow grits than polenta.  BUT, if you like grits like I do, this is da bomb, only in yellow.

Now for the ingredients:

2 cups water (or broth)
1/2 cup yellow corn meal (the coarser, the better, but any will work fine)
1 tsp salt
olive oil
1/2 T butter
2-3 oz. of cheese (I used a mix of parmesan and a bagged mix of Italian cheese)
2 medium green tomatoes

1.  Spray your indoor grill with cooking spray and begin to heat it up. It's okay if you don't grill the tomatoes, but it gives them some nice grill marks.  If you decide not to grill, just use a non-stick pan.  Cook 5 minutes on each side.

2.  In a 2 quart microwave bowl, mix the water, salt and corn meal.

3.  Cook the cornmeal mixture, covered, in the microwave on high for 5 minutes.  Stir and cook 5 minutes more. You might want to give it a stir during the second 5 minutes a little early.  Depending on your microwave it could cook slower or faster.  You don't need to cook it until it is completely dry, though.

4.  While the polenta cooks, cut the tomatoes into 1/2" slices and coat both sides with olive oil and salt.

5.  When the grill is hot, place the tomatoes on th grill and cook for 5 minutes on each side.  If it's a contact grill, that's a total of 5 minutes.

6.   When the polenta is done, add the butter and the cheeses and stir.
 
7.   And that's it.  Serve the cooked tomatoes over the polenta. Yummmmm! 

If there is any polenta left over, you can let it solidify in a pan, then cut into squares and serve with tomato sauce.  I usually just roll mine in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.  The next time I want polenta, I just cut off a piece!