Bruschetta (Italian pronunciation: [brusˈketːa]

So my question... is bruschetta the bread or the topping? Who knows, but it is yummy!

Mine is simple.

For the bread, I like sourdough bread, but it can be any dense french style breads.

Slice the bread into finger size pieces. I brush mine with a garlic butter and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake in a 350 oven until golden brown. Let cool unstacked to maintain its crunch texture. If you want to avoid butter, you can brush the bread with garlic olive oil.

For the topping slice Roma tomatoes in small pieces. Add fresh Basil cut into thin strips (using kitchen scissors works best). I like a lot! Add Olive Oil to coat and dash of Balsamic Vinegar. We recently had some with minced fresh garlic (which tasted fabulous but left me feeling insecure about my breath). Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Let it marinate for about 10-15 minutes before serving for a fuller flavor.

What can be said about this dish? It has a great wow factor without much work!

A Great Salad

There are a few things that I always love in salad, but it is the unexpected things and the mixture of flavors that work together to make a salad great... recently I made the most delicious salad, I was one happy camper.

The salad contained my salad staples:

Lettuce (different types)

Spinach (make sure it is washed well, there is nothing worse than taking a bit and tasting the dirt- even in prewashed spinach)

Broccoli slaw

Cucumber

Then I added a few "surprise" ingredients.

Blueberries

Avocado

Bruscetta topping (Roma tomatoes and fresh basil)

Mix all the usual ingredients, add blueberries and avocado.

In a separate bowl mix together diced Roma tomatoes, and sliced basil leaves. Add a little bit of olive oil to coat the mixture and a dash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Let the flavors marry for about 15 minutes and then add to the salad.

Finally, my favorite dressing is a balsamic vinegarette that is so easy. Use one of the italian dressing mixes that you can buy in the grocery store and it is easiest if you have one of their foolproof cruets that give you a line to show you how much vinegar, oil and water. Fill the cruet with the dressing mix, and balsamic vinegar to the WATER line. Then add olive oil to the oil line (if you don't have the cruet, it is about 1/3 oil and 2/3 balsamic vinegar. It is wonderful! Toss all the ingredients together and serve after about 10 minutes. If you want a little crunch, you can add some almond slices.

The combination of balsamic vinegar, basil, and blueberries make for that lovely mixture of sweet, acid, and savory that is heavenly!

Food from Morocco

Recently we went to a local Moroccan Restaurant. Holy Cow, it was delicious! I am looking forward to trying to recreate some of the tastes that we experienced. I can't wait to figure it all out.