Dinner around these parts more often than not needs to come together in a pinch, often coinciding with a desperate need to grocery shop. Those two can make for a few anxious moments of repeated openings of cabinets doors, and lingering hand on hip in front of the open refrigerator. I don’t know why I think that if I look in that cabinet just one more time or open the refrigerator again, something new will jump out at me. “Here I am! Cook ME!”

But actually, it does. Eventually, somehow among the opening and closing and lingering, an idea pops off a shelf and into my head and suddenly, there’s dinner. Or at least, there’s the idea for dinner. Then I just need a few uninterrupted minutes to actually prepare this dinner and we’re all set.

With bread being a rare commodity these days, our once old-reliables are no longer our go-to foods. Yes, I mean sandwiches. Grilled turkey with provolone and pesto on crusty sourdough is out. Chewy ciabatta with tarragon chicken is out. Even the lowly PB&J on regular ol’ wheat bread is out. So what to do when a toddler’s demanding that his mama play, the fridge looks a little bare and dinner should be eaten within the hour? Take stock of what I do have in the fridge, check the staples in the pantry and make fast work of this line up.

The fridge held a wee bit of leftover breakfast bacon, a smidgen of pesto and some mozzarella nearing its due date. On the counter sat a tomato slightly past perfect and an avocado just hitting its peak. I feel something coming together, but what’s going to tie these together? Pasta would be quick (and quick is an essential ingredient tonight). But we’ve had plenty of pasta recently…there! In the pantry at eye level is the answer. Polenta. It’s not the slow-cooked creamy polenta that one imagines at a fine Italian restaurant. This is a packaged, semi-solid polenta that has saved the evening on more than one occasion. And tonight it’s going to help me out again.

• 1 tube All-ready cooked, packaged polenta (Ancient Grains makes a great one)
• Sliced fresh mozzarella (shredded will work, too)
• Pesto
• Sliced avocado
• Sliced tomato
• Bacon, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a baking dish. Slice polenta into rounds. Top with cheese & bake until cheese melts, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and layer with pesto, avocado and bacon. Serve with tomato slices.