Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

What a week! Our move to Missouri went very smoothly. The drive was easy, the kids were perfect. We arrived just in time to do a walk through of our house on post. The resident manager took us back to her office, let my hubby sign off on all the paperwork and gave us the keys to our new home. With a few hours until dinner time, we were off to buy L a new bed (not only because he needed one but also so we’d have a place to sleep that night in our new house!). The kids were so excited with all the space and they ran around in circles, up and down the stairs (more than twice the size of our condo in Hawaii) until it was bedtime and as soon as we woke up the next morning the movers called to say they were on their way! It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. After a long day of bringing in boxes, I started to unpack the kitchen in the afternoon. This was Friday and today is Wednesday and all I can say is we’ve been doing the exact same thing everyday- unpacking boxes, cleaning/washing dusty things, running to the store for organization/cleaning items, taking short “play breaks” at nearby playgrounds. It’s been great, exciting and exhausting!

I must say I LOVE my new house. It’s two levels with a lot of rooms and nooks, just how I like a home to be. It is newly renovated and we seem to have some nice neighbors. There are kids all over the streets and we are walking distance to a great playground. My kitchen is not huge like I had hoped for, but I do have a WALK-IN pantry! Dream! And tons of storage space so even I can fit all my cooking/serving equipment in or near the actual kitchen. I’ve now decided that as long as I have tons of storage I don’t mind having a smaller kitchen. You are not going to guess how many closets this place has….THIRTEEN! 8 outside of the bedrooms, 5 within the bedrooms. I am telling you, closets are my best friend. I will never rent or buy another house without them (or enough of them).

So we still have so much work to do and I have a half-way stocked pantry/refrigerator. I’ve hardly been cooking since we got here- lots of bean & cheese tacos, salads, breakfast for dinner nights. The kids are happy, but I can’t wait to bust out my recipes and cookware. Then I just realized that Easter is this weekend! As in 4 days away! Yikes, not sure what I’ll be able to pull off, but we might be eating at the town’s big restaurant- Crackle Barrel!!!

For now, enjoy this recipe of a simple appetizer we all know and love- tomato bruschetta, which I made the night before we left Texas.

I love bruschetta. For some reason eating it reminds me of Bucca di Beppo because they make it similarly. I’ve seen some recipes that use cooked tomatoes, but it doesn’t get much easier than this.

All you really need is tomatoes, garlic, good olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil! Enjoy this super simple appetizer!

This is what I do to drain some of the excess moisture from the tomatoes….not a technical cooking technique, but it works. If you don’t, there will be a giant pool of liquid after they mix with the oil and vinegar. A small pool is good, adds flavor and is great for dunking extra bread!

Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

INGREDIENTS:

3 small tomatoes (~1 lb), chopped and dried using paper towl

1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus a little more for bread and drizzling

1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 large garlic clove, diced

6-8 large basil leaves, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine tomatoes through basil leaves in a small bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator while you prepare bread.

2. Slice loaf of french bread into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices. Place on a cookie sheet and brush the tops lightly with olive oil. Bake on 375 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes until lightly toasted (I like mine still soft in the middle).

3. To assemble, place bread slices on a serving platter, top with a heaping spoonful of the tomato mixture. Drizzle one more time with a little olive oil. Serve immediately. Yield: 10 large pieces (serves 5 or more if you have other appetizers).

Recipe from Nutritious Eats

Nutritious Eats Benefits: lycopene, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, heart healthy unsaturated fat

P.S. Now is a good time to say that being pregnant, scatterbrained and now totally unorganized as we unpack, I am bound to make more errors & typos in my posts/recipes. If you spot any please let me know! Thank you kindly!