Before we go too far I have to clarify that this is an appetizer or snack and not an actual dinner.
The reason I co-titled this post "26 Down" is to recognise and mark a milestone in this experiment. If you start here and count the number of posts on this blog you will come to a number of 26, if you know that a half a year is 26 weeks you'll quickly realize that I have been posting one dinner every week for the last six months.
When I started this project all those months ago I really couldn't conceive of reaching the six month mark or even coming up with enough material to carry me through a couple of months. I didn't have a well developed plan and I didn't have a clue what kind of format I wanted to use or what content I was going to be able to come up with. Now six months later I've come up with a format that allows me to post two or three dinners during the first half of the month and crock pot and snack recipes during the last two weeks. A series that I have implemented in the first half of each month is the seasonal posts, if you haven't noticed we are in the middle of grilling season and I am posting a grill recipe during the first half of each month. Other series that I have posted on are the quick and easy series, the restaurant alternative series, and most recently the vegetarian series. As I continue to work on this I am coming up with new ideas that I hope to implement in the next few months.
So, that is a little information about this blog over the last six months, now let's take a look at a something from the snack series. If you've been following these posts you'll know that I've been putting up a snack recipe during the last week of each month. The inspiration for the snack series came out of a need to bring diet friendly snacks to a Friday night bible study (search: Codename Get Together).
As I tried a few of these snack recipes I realized that they weren't as bland as I thought they would be and I was getting a lot of compliments and requests for the recipes. Tomato and basil bruschetta is generally an appetizer but I've found if I double the recipe appetizers can easily become party snacks. Tomato and basil bruschetta is incredibly easy to make and the name itself is practically a list of the ingredients. You can make and slice your own bread but if you want to keep it quick and simple I recommend that you use pre-sliced Italian bread that can easily be cut into smaller pieces. The problem that I had with the garlic while making a large batch was that rubbing it on the toast became time consuming and tedious, if you are making a normal batch this might not be an issue but if you don't feel that this step is beneficial to the over-all flavor then skip it.
Let's take a look at today's snack.
Tomato and Basil Bruschetta
Prep time 20 Min. Cook time 4 Min. Serves 4
Ingredients
1 medium fresh tomato, ripe or 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. basil, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon zest, grated
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
8 ounces whole-wheat bread, Italian variety, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Preheat the broiler.
Combine the tomato, basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, and salt in a small bowl; set aside.
Place the bread on the broiler pan and broil 4 inches from the heat, turning once until toasted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter.
Rub each bread slice on one side with the garlic, then top each with one generous tablespoon of the tomato mixture. Discard the remaining garlic. Arrange the bruschetta on a platter and sprinkle with the pepper.
This recipe yields 4 servings.
As I said earlier this is a quick and easy appetizer that is readily upsizeable for parties and get togethers, give it a try with next week's dinner or share it with your friends. If you try this snack check back here and leave a comment to let me know how it worked out.
Going back to the theme of 26 Down, if there is something that you would like to see in this blog or a food type or subject that you would like addressed please leave a comment and I'll try to make it happen.
At the beginning of this post I said that I was marking a milestone, something that I didn't mention back then is that the Tuesday that I will be posting this on is also my birthday. So yea!, I'm getting old.
Next week - Italian Chicken with Potatoes and Peppers or Hold The Pasta.
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