Tomato, Feta, and Garden Herb Toasts
With the first tomatoes and herbs of the season coming in, it is time to celebrate summer! Nothing highlights fresh-from-the-vine juicy tomatoes and backyard herbs like like Tomato, Feta, and Garden Herb Toasts. Brushed in olive oil, the bread is grilled for a warm smokey base. Basil and feta tossed tomatoes provide a vibrant topping to the an herbed creme fraiche spread. Tomato, Feta, and Garden Herb Toasts taste like summer, and are quick and easy to put together. We used a goat cheese feta from our CSA, an exquisite local find! This dish works beautifully as both an appetizer or a main.
Yield: 8 toasts, serves two as a meal or four as an appetizers
Ingredients:
Tomato Feta Topping:
- 4 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 7 basil leaves, cut in very thin strips (can substitute other fresh herbs of your choice)
- 1/2 cup cubed fresh feta
Herbed Creme Fraiche Spread:
- 1/3 cup creme fraiche
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 10 basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions or chives
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh black pepper
*if you do not have creme fraiche, feel free to substitute softened goat cheese or cream cheese
Toast:
- 8 slices bread (sourdough preferred)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- pinch kosher salt
Steps:
- Place diced tomatoes in a colander or strainer over the sink. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and allow to stand while you complete your other prep. This both helps to drain the tomatoes (keeping your toast from getting soggy) and enhances the flavor of the tomatoes.
- For the toast, brush the bread with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with salt on both sides. Grill the toast at high heat until nice grill marks develop, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together all of the herbed creme fraiche spread ingredients (creme fraiche, garlic, basil, green onions, salt, and pepper). Set aside.
- In a separate bowl gently mix the feta, drained tomatoes, and remaining basil.
- To assemble, spread each toast with about a tablespoon of herbed creme fraiche spread, and top with generous spoonfuls of tomato feta topping. Serve immediately, they are best eaten fresh and do not keep well. Happy summer eating!
Marinated Tomato Mozzarella Salad
It has been a bit of a blur since Gideon's arrival, as we remember what it's like to go weeks without a full nights sleep. Little Gideon and Mom are both doing well, and so we are on track to returning to Haiti in early August. As we wrap up our last weeks here, stateside, we are relishing the tastes of North American summer: impossibly good sweet corn, tart local blueberries with a dash of cream, and fresh peak-of-summer tomatoes and herbs. This Marinated Tomato and Mozzarella Salad has been a frequent highlight on our table these last few weeks. It is ready in minutes, bursting with summer flavor, a balance of bright sweet tomatoes and creamy fresh mozzarella.
Grilled Spelt Flatbread with Tapenade & Tomato
Check out our Grilled Spelt Flatbread with Tapenade & Tomato featured in Pittsburgh Magazine this week! We just love Brazen Kitchen's Leah Lizarondo and her irreverent take on seasonal vegetarian cooking.
This tender and chewy flatbread uses local spelt to up the nutty whole grain flavor. We are addicted to this no-knead spelt flatbread, and find it has a taste and texture reminiscent of Indian naan and whole wheat pita. On a warm summers evening, we like to throw this easy flatbread on the grill, spread generously with briny tapenade, and top with juicy ripe tomatoes. This spunky tapenade, packed with garlic, tarragon, and green olives, pairs beautifully with the sweetness of August tomatoes. For us, this dish epitomizes summer: fresh produce, bright flavors, and smoky char.
Tomato & Almond Pesto, Pesto Alla Trapanese
Tomato and Almond Pesto, pesto alla Trapanese, is from the Trapani province in Northwest Sicily. Almonds are native to Sicily, and so in this offbeat, rosy-hued pesto, almonds replace pine nuts and cherry tomatoes add color and tartness to the mix. We love this pesto for its mellow, complex and fruity flavor and have been making it for years, unfortunately, some ‘technical issues’ have gotten in the way of publishing it on the blog.
There was the time I forgot to attach the lid to the food processor and the pesto ended up streaking the ceiling. In my next attempt, I managed to actually make the pesto, but then took a whole bunch of yummy looking pictures without a card in the camera. Determined to make and photograph it my third attempt, I got mid-way through the recipe before realizing that I didn’t have parmesan, so I substituted a mysterious fridge cheese and created a monster of a dish with a vomitus appearance and nasty bitter flavor. At this point I gave up until, in an attempt to escape afternoon house projects this weekend, I volunteered to make lunch, and commenced my final attempt to make and photograph tomato and almond pesto for our blog. I had forgotten how good and easy it really is! Some take home reflections: secure lids on all kitchen devices; don’t bother photographing your food, just eat it; stick with parmesan cheese; and ditch plain-Jane basil pesto and make it’s funkier Sicilian cousin with almonds and tomatoes. As we move into fall, and warm pasta dishes begin to sound cozy, try whipping up another of our easy weeknight pasta recipes: Chorizo & Feta Pasta.
Turkey Feta Burgers with Yogurt Curry Sauce
On a holiday weekend famous for feasting and barbecues, we wanted to share one of our favorite burgers. These healthy Turkey Feta Burgers with Yogurt Curry Sauce are quick to make, light on fat, and big on flavor. If you are feeling adventurous, you can also substitute the turkey in this recipe for another lean meat like lamb, buffalo, or venison. To top these burgers, we ditch the usual lettuce, and opt instead for the crips fresh accompaniments of cucumber, tomato, and homemade pickled red onions.
Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta with Queso Fresco
Normally tomatoes and I aren't close. I am that annoying person who picks them out of my salad and fishes tomatoes out of my sandwich, it's an embarrassing trait. This tomato avoidance changes each summer with the arrival of beautiful, sweet, summer tomatoes. This week we got two colorful striped heirloom tomatoes from our CSA and my tomato appetite returned with a vengeance. Paul had just pulled a grainy loaf of sourdough bread out of the oven, our basil plants were looking lush and prime for the picking, and so decided on bruschetta for dinner. We gobbled up a platter for an al fresco summer dinner.
