One simple meal I like to eat is tomato and mozarella on Polenta with basil and balsamic. It's a very light meal, good for summer evenings when the weather is hot.

You start with fresh basil and tomatos, and a good block of soft mozarella. I use a preformed log of polenta for this, because it's easier to fry. I do buy loose polenta, but use it for other things.

First thing is to slice the polenta...

The Polenta takes a while to fry up. I use olive oil for my frying. I've tried canola oil, but it fries at a higher temperature and gives the polenta a different flavor. I fry them until they are just starting to turn brown and crispy.

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The polenta takes about 15 minutes to cook through (it's quite dense) so while that's going on I'll chop the rest of the ingredients. I'm only using half of everthing, because I"ll be eating alone tonight and tomorrow night, so I'll finish the rest tomorrow.

When the polenta is done, place it first on the plate.

Next put on the tomato and cheese. It doesn't really matter what order, but I prefer the tomato first as it keeps the cheese from melting too much. If the tomato piece is rounded though, I'll go cheese first so it holds together better.

Next sprinkle some of that basil on there. It's up to your taste of course...

Finally pour on some of your favorite balsamic. again, it's up to you, but keep in mind the polenta will soak up quite a bit!

I start out eating it with a fork, but by the end I always move to useing my hands. I may get vinegar all over them, but it's just so tasty I can't say no!

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