wow, thank you all for your encouraging comments! today, i am even more excited than i was yesterday when i dreamt up this idea. holy guacamole, i think we might have something here!
let it be noted, i am a forgetful person sometimes. sometimes, i just get excited (like yesterday) and forget that my mom is en route to california. fear not, i am sure she will become a superstar of the comments section, and quite possibly a guest blogger, eh? she is going to whip all of our butts from here to timbuktu!
the excitement of my newfound purpose in life caused me to really start thinking about the dinners i have planned for this week. i want to make sure i at least try to do it right - and please, readers, if you think i am doing something really wrong with the food, speak up! i will reiterate that i am not trying to crash diet, more, just move toward healthier choices. i then found myself questioning the healthfulness of tonight’s dinner: bruschetta.
my mind is working here. red flags are flying. bread and cheese. bread and cheese. bread and cheese. ok, i can do this, i can make it healthy. i cut the cheese at least in half from what I normally use. at least! i did not add any extra oil to the topping as I normally do, since the artichokes and olives had some oil in them. then, i only ate six pieces, where i would normally probably eat eight or ten. am i rationalizing? hello, jessica, and welcome to earth. first lesson, your main ingredient, tomatoes, are actually really good for you!
before the recipe, let me make a couple comments about some ingredients that i have become very partial to. first, the campari tomatoes. if you remember from yesterday’s post, i don’t have a heck of a lot of options when it comes to purchasing produce. and i am not sure i need any others in this case. i absolutely love these tomatoes. they are rich in flavor, and they are so smooth - not mealy like your standard walmart produce bin tomato. frankly, up until about a year ago, the closest this mouth came to a tomato was spaghetti sauce and catsup. *gasp* i know, i hear you. don’t ask me where my tastebuds were residing for the first 27 years of my life, but i am glad they have decided to join the party!
next ingredient that changed my life: feta cheese in the block style as opposed to pre-crumbled. the block, which you can easily crumble yourself, is about a hundred times more moist, and tastes soooo much better. the sound effects that go off in my mind when i figure something like this out are comparable to the african children’s choir. complete with a beam of light surrounding me like it did arthur when he yanked that sword out of the stone! yes! these are the kinds of things that excite me.
now, normally, jason and i would open a bottle of wine to go with this meal. i absolutely do not claim to be an expert on wine-food pairings, but i do have a semi-sweet red wine that i was thinking would go well with the sweeter hints in this bruschetta. but, jason is sick, so we decided to stick to the water tonight. nope, i don’t drink every night!
bruschetta is one of my favorite meals, and there is always plenty left over for lunch the next day. at least when it’s just jason and i eating. bonus! i probably make this two or three times a month. it seems like i never make it the same way twice - i have used roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, onions, and so on. but, it’s always just a twist on the recipe below. i would love to hear any of your variations for the next go-round.
make it a great day, and be sure to tune in for tomorrow’s dinner, which already has my mouth watering! (hint: always save your leftover bruschetta topping, even if it’s only a couple tablespoons!)
tomato, artichoke & olive bruschetta
- 1 loaf baguette bread
- 8 campari tomatoes (2 cups diced)
- 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, drained and diced
- 3 tablespoons olive tapenade, oil drained off a little
- 3 tablespoons dried cherries, very finely diced
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon basil pesto*
- 1/2 cup feta cheese
- shredded or shaved parmesean for garnish
preheat oven to 400. slice bread into approx 3/8″ slices and place on baking stone. (or cookie sheet) do a light and sloppy drizzle of olive oil over bread, allowing some to hit the pan so it crisps up the bottom of the bread in some places. not too much, just enough so there is a small amount of oil both on the top of the bread and on the pan.
combine all ingredients except cheeses. (if you do this ahead of time, it marinates a little, which is good too.) place a nugget of feta on each piece of bread, and spread with a short and stout cheese spreader. it doesn’t spread easily, but just smash it down and spread it the best you can. then place a spoonful of the topping on each piece, stirring frequently to keep the liquids dispersed. garnish with a small pinch of parm. fresh shreds or shaved, not grated!
bake at 400 approx 15 minutes or until edges of bread are just slightly turning golden brown.
*if it was summer and my herbs were growing, i would always, always use fresh herbs instead of pesto from a jar. but, i neglected to stop at the store so settled for the pesto. it was good, but i would use fresh herbs if you can.
the delish
