Garlic Basil Bites & Strawberry Feta Bruschetta

I have two fresh summer snack ideas for you today. One recipe is sweet, a great treat or appetizer, while the other is a savory revamped take on your classic garlic bread. They are quick and simple and delicious.

Strawberry Feta Bruschetta

1 Baguette
1 1/2 cups strawberries, rinsed and chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup feta cheese (goats cheese also works well) but let’s be honest with each other, you’re gonna use as much cheese as you want
Dash of salt
A liberal drizzling of balsamic reduction (balsamic vinegar does the trick if you’re not up to making the reduction)

Warm the whole baguette in a 350 degree oven. Meanwhile in a medium-sized bowl mix together all other ingredients. When the bread is warmed through, remove from oven, slice horizontally and spoon the strawberry mix onto each slice. Drizzle with more balsamic, serve and enjoy!

BASIL GARLIC BITES

1 Baguette
5 finely chopped basil leaves
2 finely minced garlic cloves
3 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan (optional)

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. When butter starts to bubble add minced garlic and basil. Sautée until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

There are a couple of ways to prepare this:
Warm the whole baguette in a 350 preheated oven. Slice and brush with basil butter, serve.
Or, if you have access to a BBQ, slice your bread diagonally and grill before brushing with garlic basil butter.
Or, slice open your baguette lengthwise. Brush either side with the garlic basil butter, top with grated cheese and broil until golden.

Nomnomnom! This goes great with a red sauce and of course, a bottle of wine. Happy Eating!

Easter Weekend Mixed Grill

It was another orphan holiday for i♥toeat and friends this Easter weekend. Don’t cry, we made the most of it with booze, a mixed grill, and hockey – Go Canucks!

I contributed Rosemary & Garlic Roasted Potatoes. Simple enough I’m sure you can all figure out the recipe. I added lemon juice while they marinated and a little squeeze after they came out of the oven, yum!

TheGlutenFreeDom made a Greek salad, so delicious, so fresh! Much better than any store-bought version. We decided the key to great Greek salad is FRESH FETA and big fat juicy olives.

Last but certainly not least came the mixed grill, provided and cooked by Mr. Phil. What a great idea! We had a juicy steak, spicy SouthWest style chicken and my favourite, Maui Ribs. All the items came pre-seasoned/marinated (except the steak) so we can’t take credit for it but everything was delicious. Way to go Hamilton Beach Grill for turning another basement suit BBQ adventure into a success! Just goes to show you don’t need a fancy grill to get the job done … although if anyone wants to buy me a BBQ this summer I won’t protest!

Holy CRAP look at that steak! Aren't you jealous!?

Oh ya, and there was strawberries.

Meatless Monday

If, like me, you’ve woken from a meat-induced Superbowl coma this morning feeling groggy and still a little bloated from the night before, Meatless Monday might just be something that appeals to you. Not that I didn’t love those pulled pork nachos yesterday… but todays a new day.

Now, for all those Veggie-Fearing Folk: taking out the meat does not mean taking out the flavour – that’s what we have cheese for. Here is a vegetable substituted recipe for pizza snacks - quick, delicious, and easy to prepare.

Zucchini Pizza Rounds

You will need:
1 large zucchini
Homemade tomato sauce, which I have conveniently provided you with a recipe for! The Store bought stuff works too
Parmesan cheese, or the grated cheese of your choice
Any other pizza toppings you might enjoy. I used a finely cut red onion for a little sweetness, and finely cut spinach.

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 400

Slice zucchini into finger-width rounds (Look at those rounds, I found the zucchini at the produce store for like 50 cents! IGA… eat your heart out)

Add a dollop of tomato sauce to each round.
Finely chop whatever pizza toppings you want to include, and scatter over rounds.

Top each round off with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the parmesan is golden.
Let zucchini rounds cool for 5 minutes, serve and enjoy.

Alternatively, you can make a great non-pizza zucchini snack. Douse zucchini rounds in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and top with parmesan cheese.

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Mom’s Zucchini Pie

I remember my Mom made this dish a lot when I was younger and I always insisted I hated it, until upon trying it I’d clear my plate every time. I think my kid-brain just didn’t like the idea of eating a vegetable “pie”; pie was supposed to be sweet, with oozing fruity goodness inside!

Carrots, Zucchini, Onion

As I and my taste evolved I admitted how good this vegetable “pie” really was; fresh zucchini, onions, carrots, grated cheese, all baked to a crispy golden perfection. Last week in thanks of my Mom’s help with moving I helped her prepare this dish for supper. At this stage in her culinary life she’s great with improvising, and at the last-minute we realized we had no oregano or basil, but thyme worked great in fact I think I liked it even better.

I love zucchini, they are the reason I enjoy this dish, but you can add or omit most any vegetable to your liking.

Mom’s Zucchini Pie

3 eggs
1/8 cup oil
2 tbsp butter
1 cup flour
Oregano/basil/thyme to taste
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 big zucchini
2 carrots
grated cheese

Grated Cheddar with pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Whisk together eggs and oil in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl mix flour, butter, seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Mix until crumbly, then add to eggs and oil.
In a food processor chop vegetables. Grate desired amount of cheese, then combine vegetables and cheese with other ingredients. Stir well.
Cook 45 minutes – 1 hour at 350° in a well-greased casserole dish.