Bruschetta for One

My husband was not home for dinner tonight, so I was excited to 1) have something that I love, but he feels is an incomplete meal, and 2) use up some garden tomatoes.

I love bruschetta…I can eat it as a meal on its own. I make bruschetta as an appetizer to bring to parties, make bruschetta pasta, bruschetta chicken, and bruschetta pizza. And, occasionally, I like to have it for dinner. I made the same recipe I would if I were creating an appetizer, I just used larger slices of bread. When I make this as an appetizer, I serve it with toasted baguette slices, tonight, I served it with hearty wheat “Italian” bread slices.

I don’t measure, and sort of just created this recipe over time, based on ingredients I like, but here is the idea (if making as an appetizer, increase ingredient amounts. What is listed is plenty for 2 people:

2 tomatoes, diced and seeded (2 tomatoes will easily serve 2 people)
½ red onion, chopped
Handful of black olives, sliced (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
Handful of fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh mozzarella slices
Italian bread (I used a wheat variety, but it is better with the real thing!)

I poured a small amount of olive oil in the bottom of a small mixing bowl. I chopped and seeded 2 small tomatoes and added to the bowl. I then added the chopped onion followed by the salt, pepper, garlic, basil, thyme, and black olives. I added red wine vinegar, stirred, and let stand for about 1 hour at room temperature.

Meanwhile, I sliced the bread and preheated the broiler. I brushed each side of the bread with olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese (I mixed all these ingredients in a small prep bowl and brushed on). I put the slices under the broiler to toast both sides.

Once the bruschetta had marinated, I used a slotted spoon to drain, and spooned onto the bread. I topped with slices of fresh part-skim mozzarella and placed under the broiler until the cheese melted.

Dinner for one, yummy!

Cara's Zucchini & Rice Casserole, with a twist!

I wanted to use up my garden tomatoes that are in plentiful supply right now, in addition to some fresh zucchini my mother in law was kind enough to give Matt and I. I remember reading this recipe in Cara’s blog and thinking it sounded really yummy and summery. I sort of combined her recipe with one I found on epicurious. The epicurious recipe called for chard, and I didn’t have any, so I subbed spinach. That is really the only inspiration I received from this recipe, but I really though the spinach added a nice touch to this dish, so I must give credit where credit it due!

Now, this meal needs TONS of work presentation-wise, but it was delicious! Matt was nervous since there was no meat, but he enjoyed it, and after a second helping, was quite full.

I basically followed the directions for Cara’s recipe, I just added spinach to the mxutre. After I wilted the spinach, I had to squeeze all the water out so the casserole didn’t get too mushy and liquid-y. I also had to use white rice because I didn’t have enough brown rice. I was pretty bummed, even though I love the taste of white rice, because I am trying SO HARD to eat better these days! Also, my husband despises both cottage and feta cheese, so I had to improvise. I added a little parmesan and asiago in with the rice mixture and added a layer of reduced fat cheddar in the casserole. I lined the bottom with tomatoes, then added half of the rice/zucchini/spinach/onions/spices mixture , a layer of the reduced fat cheddar, then the remaining rice mixture. Topped with tomatoes, and added more parm and asiago.

Grilled Swordfish with Tomato-Herb Salsa

My mom was visiting for a few days, and after too many indulgent meals out, I decided to cook one of her favorites, swordfish. I wanted to change it up on my creature-of-habit mother though, and marinade it and top it with something she would not expect. Swordfish to my mom typically means marinating in lemon juice and herbs, topping with herb butter and fresh lemon. Don’t get me wrong, it is delicious; I just wanted to surprise her palate. I also wanted to use up some garden tomatoes as well. I used this recipe from epicurious as my guide, and only made a few changes, which I noted below.

I started with 2 gorgeous, thick, and fresh swordfish steaks, and marinated in a combination of herbs, extra virgin olive oil (very small amount), and some white wine. I used fresh thyme, garlic, basil, marjoram (dried, I couldn’t find fresh at the store), and fresh ground pepper and sea salt. After marinating for about 30 minutes, I placed the fish on the grill, turning after about 6-7 minutes (my fish was rather thick, this will vary depending on thickness).

I served the swordfish with fresh green beans, so after I had rinsed and snapped the ends of the beans, I placed them in a foil packet with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little minced garlic and fresh thyme. I placed the foil packet on the grill along with the swordfish.

Meanwhile, I got to work on the tomato-herb salsa. I changed the recipe I found on epicurious slightly, by adding garlic and white whine to the salsa. I omitted the steps of peeling and blanching the tomatoes. To me, the salsa resembled more of a bruschetta, but oh well, it was still very tasty!

I served the fish over a bed of whole wheat couscous, which I made with vegetable stock, garlic, and some fresh basil.

Grilled Pizza for Friends!

We got together with our neighbors, at their request, so they could try our “World Famous Grilled Pizza.” They were in awe of the whole process, and I believe we got them hooked! For instructions on working with the dough, see my first post (Bruschetta pizza). I used Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough (for just Matt and I, we only use half), and as always, it made perfectly delicious crust!

For toppings, I used the following:

1 package of frozen creamed spinach, heated through
4 diced tomatoes (seeds and juices discarded)
Large handful of mushrooms
1 small red onion
Marinated artichoke hearts
Fontina cheese

I started by dicing the tomatoes, and sautéing the mushrooms and onions on the stovetop. I added in a small amount of olive oil and also balsamic vinegar to the mushroom/onion pan for a little depth in flavor. I microwaved the frozen spinach according to directions on the package, and I also shredded the fontina cheese, and then placed all of the prepared ingredients in bowls and placed on a large baking sheet to transport out to the grill.

Once I had flipped the dough, I started by spreading the spinach over the bottom. I added a little bit of cheese next, followed by the artichokes, then tomatoes. I added the mushrooms and onions next, and topped the pizza off with the rest of the cheese. I closed the lid and let the cheese melt.

Sarah and Austin, our neighbors, brought over a garden salad, and we enjoyed our dinner out on the deck with plenty of Harpoon Summer Ale and Blue Moon “Honey Moon Summer Ale” (with slices or oranges, of course!). We then went and got ice cream for dessert, YUM! Purple Cow frozen yogurt is soooo delish!

It's Almost TOMATO Time!!!!!

You have no idea how excited I am!!!! I went out to water my garden (consisting only of tomatoes and basil) this afternoon, and flipped when I saw 3 tomatoes on the verge of turning red!!!!!! Yay! They were from my cherry tomato plants, not the larger ones, but I'll take what I can get at this point! YAY!!!!!!!



Allie was very excited as well!!!!

Bruschetta Pizza

OK, so I like to think that my bruschetta is world famous! My dad was actually a really great cook in his day, and he always deemed everything his "world famous." So, as a tribute to him, this is a twist on my WORLD FAMOUS bruschetta. Anyway, I make my typical bruschetta in a few different ways, but this time decided to put it on top of some pizza!

I started with whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's. I am IN LOVE with this pizza crust, it is TO DIE FOR (really, it is!). My husband, Matt, does not always like the same things as me, so as I often do, I made us each our own portion. I cut the dough in half and froze one half. I then cut the remaining dough in half again, so we each ended up with a quarter of the original ball of dough. I rolled out the dough as thinly as I could. (I tried the authentic using the knuckles and tossing method – didn’t so much work for me!). I sprayed a cookie sheet with extra virgin olive oil spray, and placed the dough down. I then drizzled a SMALL portion of olive oil on the top of the crust, and coated with a brush.

I set the dough aside, and worked on the toppings. For the bruschetta topping, here is a rough idea of what I did/used (I rarely measure, sorry!!)

*About 4 medium sized tomatoes, seeded and chopped in small pieces
*Fresh basil stemmed and chopped (I like to stack the leaves, roll like a cigar, and then chop into small pieces)
*I clove garlic, minced
*2 teaspoons fresh thyme
*½ red onion, chopped into small pieces
*Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
*About 1 cup of red wine vinegar
*Sprinkle of sea salt
*Fresh ground black pepper

I let this marinate for about 1/2 hour in a bowl in the fridge, and then using a strainer, drain as much of the liquid as I can. *This is VERY IMPORTANT as the pizza will be very watery and runny if not well drained. Once the bruscetta is drained, I add back to bowl, and prepare the rest of my ingredients…

*Handful of large black olives (canned are OK, but the yummy ones from the olive bar at the grocery store are better)
*Small chunks of fresh mozzarella
*½ cup of part-skim ricotta cheese (I like to add in a little garlic salt, fresh ground pepper, and Italian seasoning)

I place each of the ingredients in a small prep bowl and place on a large cookie sheet.

OK, back to the pizza…



Here comes the best part… I then placed the pizza RIGHT ON THE GRILL!!!! I have a pizza stone, but after hearing stories of the What’s Cookin’ ladies stones breaking, I was hesitant to do this. A while back, I had seen an episode of Paula Deen, and she placed her dough right on the grill, so why not? I gave it a whirl. Well, it was AMAZING! So crispy on the outside, but still a nice, soft bite on the inside.

Grill the dough on one side for about 5-6 minutes over medium to medium-high heat. I flipped once I saw the nice grill marks with a golden color overall. Once I flipped, I started assembling the pizza. I spread the bruscetta mixture over the individual pizzas. I added the fresh mozzarella to both pizzas, and then added the black olives and also the ricotta to mine (DARN husband doesn’t like olives or ricotta cheese).

Grill until cheese melts and bottom side of crust has nice grill marks and a crispy texture.