Homemade Bruschetta from Garden Tomatoes and Basil

This is precisely a main reason, a culmination, of why I am doing my Sustainable Kitchen Project. It’s just for amazing experiences like this. Just yesterday, I glanced over towards my garden. I noticed a flash of red. Not green, and not the even more likely brown. Red. It stopped me in my tracks.

Tomatoes. Tomatoes that I grew on my own. This may not sound amazing, but considering my brown thumb, this is nothing short of miraculous.

It’s funny the simple pleasures for a foodie mom like myself, too. It’s amazing that I found the time to grow these tomatoes, and it’s amazing they grew. It’s amazing that I could walk over and pick four fire engine red tomatoes from my own garden.

I looked at my special little tomatoes and pondered what to do with them. There really wasn’t enough to make something for the whole family. Each tomato was maybe one to two inches around. I could smell the tomato awesomeness just oozing from them. I also have so much basil growing, I don’t even know what to do with it. So it clicked. It was time to make bruschetta. Brilliant.

I should also specify that I decide to make brushetta for me, and just for me, and not for anyone else. It isn’t very often a mom can do something completely and utterly selfish. We’re constantly thinking of the kids first. But I had this gift, and it was just enough for one.

I waited for the kids to go down for nap. Then I did it. I diced the tomatoes. I grabbed a couple of the little dices just to get a pure taste of the tomatoes. It was so amazing, I had to take a sample to my husband. I had to bug him to try it (“This is what home grown tomatoes taste like, honey!”), and even he (the lover of all things pizza and burger) was impressed with the flavor.

I chopped some basil, then let them marinate in some organic extra virgin olive oil. I then tossed in some crumbled feta cheese and sprinkled a little sea salt, and served it over toasts.

Then I sat back, relaxed, and tasted. Unbelievable.

So even though it took hours of effort, and it cost money for my raised bed, and I had to encounter all sorts of Homeric-like challenges (well, bugs, dirt and the threat of frost), it was all worth it.

This is the ultimate local food. Forget farm to table, this is yard to table. Delicious!

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