Welcome to the first installment of Simple Sides! This month I’m collaborating with three other bloggers to bring you a few fantastic side dishes from different corners of the blogosphere. Anne, from Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy; Mary, from Barefeet in the Kitchen, and Nancy from Real Food, Allergy Free. They each have fabulous blogs that I recommend you visit if you’re looking for healthy, frugal inspiration in the kitchen. Check back here in the coming weeks for their additions to our Simple Sides series.
I’ve said in the past that I try to avoid the kitchen over the weekend. As much as I find whipping up delicious frugal concoctions both exciting and therapeutic, I‘ve learned that a regular break is necessary. So one or two days a week, I check out. Meals become speedy concoctions, pulled together with basic ingredients and minimal effort.
While our culture tends to equate easy meals as something that comes from a box or is popped in the microwave, I’ve found it isn’t always practical. When you’re trying to eat healthy and super frugally, routinely making up meals based on convenience food literally doesn’t fit the bill.
What does fit our bill right now is tomatoes. Not only are they fairly cheap at the grocery stores, and farmer’s markets, we’ve also been carting home boxes of them from our local produce stand. At the end of the day, they give us their slightly bruised and damaged fruit, which we can then chop up and use in the next few days or freeze for the coming months (read more about this little arrangement here).
And apparently tomatoes are in abundance. So on the weekends, when I’m looking for a cheap, fresh way to fill our stomachs, I pull out the tomatoes and make bruschetta.
It’s not as complicated as it sounds.
In fact depending on what method you use, it probably takes about as long to make as a box of macaroni and cheese. Traditional methods call for peeling the tomatoes and sautéing the bread with slivers of garlic. If I was planning to serve this to guests, I would consider following the traditional methods, because it is of course delicious. However, a Sunday after noon at home merits something faster and more simple.
These babies are delicious paired with leftover chicken, beef, pasta, or a large salad. However, they also make a fabulous vegetarian or vegan meal by themselves.
For us, the most expensive part of this meal is the olive oil. I like flavor the oil brings to the bread after it’s been toasted, but butter would work in a pinch. Especially on a weekend when no one cares and we’d otherwise be eating macaroni and cheese.
Tomato & Basil Bruschetta
(Ingredients are to taste; use as much or as little as you like)
INGREDIENTS
- 3-4 medium tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar – balsamic, etc.)
- 6-8 basil leaves, chopped (or 1-2 teaspoons dried basil)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 loaf of French bread , sliced into 1/2-inch pieces (or a homemade round loaf – I use our soaked whole wheat bread)
- 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil (butter works in a pinch)
DIRECTIONS
- Move your oven rack to the top slot and preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
- Brush the bread slices with olive oil, place them oil side down on a baking sheet, and toast them for 3-6 minutes (keep an eye on them to prevent burning). (Tip: As a dish saver, I poured the oil directly onto the plate I was going to serve the bruschetta on, then plopped the bread onto the plate to cover one side of each slice with oil. I removed them from the plate quickly so they didn’t soak up too much oil.)
- After toasting, serve the bread, oil side up, on a plate and scoop spoonfuls of the tomato and basil mixture onto the bread.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What kind of simple side dishes do you whip up over the summer?
Cheers,
4 comments
4 pings
Nancy @ Real Food Allergy Free
08/04/2011 at 8:05 AM (UTC -6)
That looks wonderful! I might try it for lunch today.
Barefeet In The Kitchen
08/04/2011 at 4:10 PM (UTC -6)
I have bruschetta on my meal plan for this weekend, Steph. I’m trying to take a page from your book and plan at least a few super easy meals for the weekends.
Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy
08/04/2011 at 6:47 PM (UTC -6)
Can you believe I’ve never made bruschetta? This looks like a really simple recipe that I’m definitely going to have to try. Hoping baby comes soon for you!
Shelly
08/05/2011 at 10:36 AM (UTC -6)
Have loads of tomatoes in our summer garden and I will make this tonight! Thank you.
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