bruschetta for the people

After reading certain kinds of recipes, I am left feeling compelled to engage in grade-B criminal activity. Especially recipes for bruschetta. (You may think you're on to me and my witty wordplay of the day, but no, no, I'm not saying I love bruschetta enough to kill for it!) So many recipes for bruschetta, like so many recipes for crab cakes and ravioli filling, call for bits and smidgeons of way too many fresh herbs. Now don't get me wrong. I love fresh herbs, and for recipes that call for an array of herbs by the cupfuls, I'm all for it. But I'm unemployed, and really, I'll be damned if I ask my dad to pay my credit card bill again just to cover fresh herb expenses. That said, I am not going to rip off a few leaves here and a few leaves there from the bunches of herbs at the grocery store. It's beneath me, and I won't do it. What I will do is say 'no' to always following recipes, because I have learned over these recent trying times, that there's always room for empowerment of one's own mind and culinary instincts. And because following rules is boring. AND, because the unemployed should have their bruschetta too!

One-Herb Bruschetta

-ingredients-
4 red but firm plum tomatoes (other kinds of tomatoes are more likely to be mealier, and a mealy tomato is never as offensive as when in bruschetta)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon's juice (I like very lemony bruschetta; if you don't, add less.)
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 baguette

-preparation-
1. Cut plum tomatoes into small dice. Put diced tomatoes in a bowl.
2. Add remaining ingredients to bowl, mixing them into tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Let tomato mixture sit, covered, on countertop for at least 1 hour.
4. Cut baguette into 1/2-inch slices; toast.
5. When ready, top toasts with tomato mixture and serve.













Picture: Step 3.