Bruschetta Salad

Cicadas buzzing in the trees, laughter trilling on the breeze and glasses clinking. The sounds of summer often punctuates our little street on Sunday’s at dusk as neighbours who’re friends and friends who are neighbours gather together in the shade of my next door neighbours backyard to chat about their week and enjoy a final unwind as the weekend winds down. It’s a glorious tradition enjoyed periodically where delicious wines are shared and a little afternoon nibble is passed around. The spontaneity of our gatherings adds to their enjoyment and calls on our creativity diving into our kitchens in search of offerings to share. With a glass of bubbles in hand last Sunday my other hand, held delicious bruschetta topped with a mixture of little jewel tomato threaded with basil shreds fresh from our hostess’s garden. She’s quite the urban farmer who generously shares her glut of produce, often in surprise bowls at the front door. During a recent such soiree, as the juices of macerated tomatoes dripped between my fingers and the clock ticked towards dinner time my mind wandered to what was left in my own kitchen and the bowl of tomatoes grown in the little micro market garden surrounding me sitting on my own bench. Later, while meat sizzled on the BBQ, I threw together basil from my own garden with tomatoes from my neighbour and a few other embellishments to create a salad that harked back to those garlicky summery flavours of fresh bruschetta.

Bruschetta Salad can be as easy as you wish or a little more involved if you’re feeling fancy and have a few extra minutes up your sleeve. I’ll give you the tips for the easy version below the recipe for the Sunday “I’ve got time,” version. Inspired by Lucy Tweed and her brilliant book Every Night of the Week, I love to serve this salad only semi constructed showing off all the beautiful colours and produce but also allowing diners to choose all the bits they love and almost build their own little salad while they serve themselves. If you prefer to serve like a tossed salad style be sure and add the bready bits just before serving to preserve the crunch.

Ingredients:

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and flattened with the back of a knife.

¼ C extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp salt flakes

3-4 thick slices of sourdough the bread. The older the better though obviously sans mould. We don’t want it that old.

3 Cups of cut up mixed tomatoes.

¼ cup shredded basil leaves. Don’t cut these up until you’re ready to assemble.

3 handfuls of your favourite salad leaves. I prefer baby butter lettuce but baby cos (romaine) is also delicious. You want to use something fairly neutral in flavour.

Method:

Preheat oven to 200c

Combine squashed garlic cloves, olive oil and salt and allow to sit while you prepare the bread. You can tear up bread into small pieces or slice into cubes, whichever you prefer. Toss in a bowl with half the olive oil. Spread evenly in one layer over a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Cool on the bench on their trays while you prepare the toms.

If you’re using cherry tomatoes simply halve them. If you’re using larger regular tomatoes chop into large chunks like the size you’d cut into for regular bruschetta. In another bowl combine tomatoes, remaining garlicky oil and shredded basil and leave to marainate a few mins.

On a platter spread washed leaves out in one layer. Mound tomatoes on top and place croutons in another mound next to them. Serve immediately.

Last minute/Cheat’s/’I can’t be bothered’ Version:

Now…This can be made a whole lot faster when you get that call from family or friends as you walk out of work on Friday night saying “hey let’s get together…we’ll come to you…” Don’t panic my friends. They’ll look at this placed on the table and think you’ve been slaving away for hours.

Instead of making the croutons, you can buy these pre-made at the supermarket. While you’re there run into the oil aisle and grab some flavoured olive oil for the garlic oil (also a great option if fresh garlic upsets your digestive system). These two quick short cuts will save you time and get you to pretty much the same place.