Tomatoes and Basil, Oh My!

If you've taken on the task of gardening this summer, you've likely been reaping the benefits for the past several weeks. While our herbs have been growing beautifully, it would be an understatement to say that our tomatoes have been a disappointment. Not sure if it was their location on the porch, or the fact that Adam left me in charge of caring for them for a 5 day period in July (oops!), but the poor plant now looks a bit sickly and forgotten.

Lucky for me, however, my parents have been kind enough to share their plentiful tomato harvest with us :)

The quick, easy, and summery solution to an abundance of tomatoes and some basil in your window? Bruschetta!

My sister and her boyfriend joined us for dinner on the porch this evening, and bruschetta was the perfect centerpiece to our spread of salads.

The amounts of everything in this recipe are quite flexible--be creative!

Basic Bruschetta

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. tomatoes
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 TBSP red wine vinegar
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Salt, pepper, and dried oregano to taste
• Parmesan cheese
• Whole grain baguette, thickly sliced
• Olive oil (to drizzle)
• Garlic powder (to sprinkle)

Directions:

1) Cut open tomatoes and discard pulp. Chop tomatoes into small chunks. Place tomato chunks in a bowl.

2) Add the onion, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, basil leaves, salt, pepper, and oregano to tomatoes. Stir to combine and allow to sit for about an hour so flavors can blend.

3) Lightly drizzle each piece of baguette with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder. Place baguette slices on a baking sheet and toast in the oven (425 degrees) for approximately 5 minutes, or until lightly crisp.

4) Remove baking sheet from the oven and turn each baguette slice over. Top each baguette slice with the tomato mixture. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Return baguette slices to the oven for approximately 3-4 minutes.