Easy Bruschetta

Sometimes figuring out what to eat for dinner can be a little challenging. Even if you love food as much as I do, you can’t always be prepared. We’re not all Boy Scouts, after all. Tonight was one of those ‘I’m not prepared nights.’ It was one of those nights where I opened my fridge door to find only a few small scrapes of vegetables and a whole whack of condiments. I was also exhausted from camping and starving since I hadn’t eaten since 1:00, and it was now close to 10:00. And I had a huge hike with a heavy pack on my back. It’s a miracle that I managed to scrounge up anything edible at all. It is also a miracle that what I did scrounge up with completely and utterly delicious.

Bruschetta: one of life’s simple pleasures. It is also ridiculously fast and easy to make and, I think, healthy for you too. I found a handful of cherry tomatoes that I had bought at last week’s Vancouver Farmers Market. There were little red ones, yellow ones and those dark coloured tomatoes that for some reason are always called black but don’t look black to me at all. Being the end of August, and smack in the middle of garlic season, I had a few cloves to throw in, too. It’s a good thing I hadn’t planned on kissing anyone, those little cloves were potent! I found some slightly wilted basil in a little bag in the bottom of my hiking pack, but I wasn’t going to be too picky about a little wilty-ness.

In less than 5 minutes I had defrosted 3 slices of Terra Breads Italian cheese bread I had in my freezer, combined some minced garlic, chopped tomatoes and torn basil leaves with a good dose of olive oil, a splash of truffle infused balsamic vinegar and a few pinches of sea salt. 5 minutes, and a good sprinkling of parmesan reggiano later, I sat down to warm garlicky, tomato-y, basil-y deliciousness. Pure happiness. 

Bruschetta

Thick slices of your favourite delicious bread
Parmesan reggiano
Chopped tomatoes
Minced garlic
Torn basil
Sea salt
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Combine all ingredients (except bread and parmesan) in a bowl and mix well
Pour some extra olive oil over the slices of bread. Top with tomato mixture
Broil in your oven for about 5 minutes. Watch carefully so you don’t accidently burn the bruschetta!