Bruschetta

It's summertime and my garden is in full bloom! Back in May I planted cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, poblano peppers, jalapeno peppers, red peppers, chives, basil, rosemary, cilantro, green beans, and thyme. In addition, my sage from last year came back and it's HUGE. So far everything has been doing well except the green beans (they're pretty scrawny) and the cilantro (it's tall and leggy without many leaves). It's July so I'm picking tomatoes every day and my basil plants are very mature, so at my house that means it's time from bruschetta!

I use plum tomatoes because they aren't as watery as other varieties. They seem to have more "meat" than other tomatoes, if that makes sense. Of course, you can use any tomatoes you have on hand.

My mom and I love to enjoy bruschetta on freshly toasted baguette as an appetizer or even as a light meal. it's super simple: tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil. No need to turn on the oven (you can toast the bread in a toaster or even buy premade garlic toasts).

Basil is one of my favorite herbs. It adds a fresh note to our pasta sauces and it's great served as-is in bruschetta. It normally runs about $3 for a handful of fresh basil in the grocery store, but I grow my own, so it's practically free and always fresh.

I make my bruschetta fresh and in small batches. I let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two before serving to let the flavors mix. I always eat it within 24 hours. This version is so much better than that jarred stuff at the grocery store.

Bruschetta
from Keeley's kitchen

4 Roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
a handful of fresh basil (about 15 leaves), chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Put the tomatoes in a medium-sized bowl. Add 3/4 teaspoon of salt (more or less to taste). Add basil, garlic, olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper (more or less to taste). Refrigerate for at least one hour and serve with freshly toasted baguette. (If you opt to serve it with store-bought garlic toasts, reduce the salt in the recipe.)

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