Not all of last night's leftovers make great lunches. Some dishes just don't stand up well to reheating, don't travel well, or just plain don't work the next day. But when you get it right, you can have a lunch that seems much fancier that your average workhorse sandwich. Like this: For dinner, serve yourself a hot wedge of polenta cake with a two-tomato sauce for a great first or main course. Then for lunch the next day, pack up the tomato sauce separately to reheat in the microwave and spoon over the room-temperature polenta cake. With salad and a juicy peach or a wedge of your favorite runny cheese, you have a very elegantly Continental lunch with not a wisp of fuss. --Sarah McColl

Polenta Cake with Two-Tomato Sauce
Serves 4; makes about 2 cups tomato sauce

1 pint grape tomatoes
5 plum tomatoes
1 cup polenta
3 1/2 cups water
Olive oil
Salt pepper

Preheat the oven to 450°. Place tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tbsp. of olive oil. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until grape tomatoes have collapsed and are a bit blistery, and the plum tomatoes are utterly soft. Meanwhile, stir together polenta and water in a medium saucepan. Whisk frequently over medium-high heat. Rub 1 tsp. of olive oil into an 8-10" baking dish and set aside. After about 10 minutes, the polenta will start to pull away from the sides of the saucepan. Pour into the baking dish and smooth the top as much as possible. When the tomatoes come out of the oven, put the polenta in for about 5 minutes, just to firm it up a bit more and to set our "cake." Plop the tomatoes into your food processor and pulse with 1 tsp. olive oil until as smooth or chunky as your heart desires. Season with salt and pepper. Cut polenta into 4 wedges and serve topped with tomato sauce.*

*You could gussy up this dish in limitless ways: sprinkle on some crumbled blue cheese, top with a poached or chopped hardboiled egg, add some sautéed mushrooms, scatter fresh herbs around the plate...think of this is a jumping-off point for your culinary imagination!