Tomato, Onion and Basil Bruschetta

Bru-shet-a…bru-sket-a…bru-something-a… However you say it, bruschetta is one of my favorite summer foods. If I remember correctly, I first learned to make this dish around the age of 15, when my mom’s friend Julia came to visit. Julia had made some delicious tomato and onion dish, and I managed to eat the whole bowl before my parents got the chance to take a bite. At that point, I realized I NEEDED to learn how to make it…my life/eating habits depended on it. Since that day, bruschetta has been a family favorite. Of the dishes I make when I home, this and the black bean and corn salad are the most commonly requested dishes. It’s fresh tasting, easy to make, and if you make a large enough bowl, can be eaten as a meal by itself…at least that’s what I like to do!

Before we get to the recipe, let’s learn a little about the history of bruschetta. When most people think of bruschetta (or at the very least, when I think of bruschetta), they picture something along the lines of a tomato and basil based dish. According to my wikipedia search, bruschetta originates from central Italy and goes back as far as the 15th century. It’s interesting to note that bruschetta actually started out as nothing more than a toasted piece of bread with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper (yummmm). Over the past…oh, six centuries, variation have begun to include tomatoes, meats, beans, cheeses, etc. Okay, now that you’ve gotten your wikipedia history lesson for the day, let’s move onto the recipe!

What you need (serves 3-4 people as an appetizer):

• 2 medium sized tomatoes (or 1 container of baby tomatoes)
• 1 medium sized vidalia onion
• 1/4 cup minced basil
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tbs garlic salt (more if you want…depends on the flavoring of the tomatoes and onions)
• 1 loaf of italian or french bread (I love buying the day old bread at Jimmy John’s. It’s only 50 cents and it’s DELICIOUS.)

What you need to do:

1. Dice the tomatoes and onions and add to a bowl.
2. Mince the basil and add to the bowl as well (feel free to be liberal with the basil).
3. Add the olive oil and garlic salt.
4. Be sure to taste the dish at this point. Depending on the flavoring of the tomatoes and onions, you might want to add more salt. Also, depending on how juicy the tomatoes are, you might want to add a little extra olive oil.
5. Slice and toast the bread.
6. Bread + Bruscheta = Heaven. Enjoy!

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