Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Revisiting Bruschetta

Clear liquid diet.

Each of those words is fine by themselves, but together, they spell TORTURE. Especially when you have a food blog to write.

So we're going to revisit one of my favorites today. One that has me drooling all over my keyboard and I can guarantee I will be making this again very soon.

One way you can tell it's been a while since this original post is that Danielle has now been married to the boyfriend mentioned for three years.
Where does the time go?

* * * *
Saturday night my daughter's boyfriend joined us for dinner. Since Danielle was making her famous lemon chicken pasta, I opted to prepare the appetizer and dessert. But what would be a good appetizer. Something Italian. The mind wandered to my container garden brimming with basil and ripe tomatoes.

A-ha!

Since all of this transpired at the grocery store, I grabbed a loaf of french bread and headed for the checkout line.

Y'all, this was SO good. As in, I-could-make-a-meal-out-of-this good. Ruthy, the carbs were totally worth it.

Here's what you'll need:
  • A baguette or loaf of crusty french bread, sliced
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, cracked away from the skin
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 small tomatoes, halved and seeded
  • 20 fresh basil leaves
  • coarse salt
  • ground pepper
I don't have a lot of pictures, because I was so eager to get this made I kept forgetting to take the pix.

Chop seeded tomatoes and place in a small bowl. Pile your basil leaves about ten at a time, roll into a log and thinly slice. Add to tomatoes. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. A pinch of each will generally do.

Set aside.
Preheat broiler to high. You can also grill the bread, if you prefer. Place bread slices on a broiler pan. Toast bread on each side under hot broiler. Be sure you keep an eye on it. It can go from nothing to black in no time if you get distracted.

Remove from oven and drizzle with olive oil. I used my Mr. Misto and misted mine so the coating would be lighter. Then rub toasts with cracked garlic. I didn't think this would do much, but it really added a nice kick of flavor.


Top toasts with tomato/basil mixture.


Don't they look pretty?

This was so easy and so...well, like I said, yummy. It was light and refreshing on a hot Texas eve. I can hardly wait to make it again.


What's growing in your garden and how do you plan to use it?


* * * *

Yep, I definitely see this on the menu later this week.
I CAN'T WAIT!


12 comments:

  1. This looks fabulous, and so easy!

    We have nothing in our garden this year except weeds. We had such a busy spring that we didn't even start one - which is good, because we're in the middle of a drought. But there's always next year!

    BTW - the clear liquid diet? No fun. :(

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    2. Let's try this again. I hate when I don't realize that I'm signed in as my son.
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      I hear you, Jan. All I planted was basil and it's struggling to survive in our heat.

      Your area was in a drought the three years we lived there. I remember some really bad wildfires in the hills. We'd come out in the morning an our vehicles would be covered in a layer of ash. Not cool.

      Nope, no fun at all. But I'm back to eating normal now, so I just need to pick up a baguette so I can make me some bruschetta. :D

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  2. Yummy!!! And basil is one of my favorite things in the world.

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    1. Mine too, Tina. Probably why it's the only thing I grow. ;)

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  3. I'm growing basil - sort of. :) I bought some at the farmer's market and stuck it in water. 3 weeks and I'm still using it.

    This is one of my favorite summer meals, Mindy. YUM!!

    Check back tomorrow for another basil recipe.

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    1. Hey, if it's still green and not wilted, you're doing great, Mary Cate. And I will definitely be checking back to see what you've got tomorrow because I have lots of basil.

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  4. I love bruschetta! And bread, especially crusty French bread. Yum. Now my mouth is watering.

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    1. And if you want to cut out the carbs, Lisa, simply added some fresh mozzarella cheese for a satisfying salad.

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  5. Yum...must make it this time round. I love getting it at restaurants but I'm a boring cook at home. And I'm a butterhead today 'cause I had phyiso. Yawn. "night.

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    1. Kav, you butter head you, you need to stop being such a boring cook then. Fix what you love. Just smaller portions. :-)

      How's that physio coming along anyway?

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  6. I've made this a bunch of times since you posted it because bruschetta is so popular with peeps here! And Beth makes it, too, although hers is a little different, but this is how I learned to love bruschetta!!!! Lovely, Mind-0!!!!!

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