CRUNCHY AND DELICIOUS FRIED RED TOMATOES

RECIPES FOR WHEN THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO IS TO GO INTO THE KITCHEN AND COOK SOMETHING.

Because of the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" all this time you have probably been thinking that if you dont' have any green tomatoes to fry, you couldn't possibly fry any tomatoes at all. Well, I'm here to tell you that this just is not true. Regular red tomatoes are absolutely delicious fried. In fact, you can fry just about anything in the vegetable kingdom and it will taste good--just ask any Southerner. Adding fried tomatoes to your dinner can turn an ordinary hum-drum dinner into something almost glamorous. It doesn't take any special skill to make these wonderful tomatoes, just a skillet, some oil and some beautiful ripe red tomatoes. Not too ripe, though. You don't want the soft, mushy kind, but the kind that are firm enough to hold up when they are heated on the skillet but still have that delicious taste that only a fresh red tomato has.

Here is how you do it:

4-6 ripe red tomatoes

1 1/2 C. seasoned bread crumbs or yellow cornmeal, whichever you prefer

1 T. dried basil

1 teasp. seasoning salt

2 T. oil or spray-on olive oil

1 C. grated Parmesan or Mozarella cheese both

1. Wash and cut the tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices.

2. Place the bread crumbs or cornmeal, basil and seasoning salt in a flat dish. Generously coat both sides of the tomatoes in the crumbs.

3. Spray or coat a griddle with the oil and fry the tomatoes over medium-high heat until they are lightly browned on both sides.

4. Sprinkle with additional basil when they are cooked then add the cheese on the top. You can serve them as-is or melt the cheese under the broiler until it is hot and bubbling. Delicious! Enjoy. Serves 4-6.