Bruschetta with Bite

With sincere apologies to my friends and family in colder climes, it is beginning to look and feel like spring. Soon there will be garden parties, lunch on the patio, and all sorts of outdoor picnic occasions. This handy canape can be fixed quickly, transported easily, and it tastes sublime. 

I have always made bruschetta with fresh tomatoes, but I found myself with none on hand, but I did have a can of Muir Glen's Organic Fire Roasted tomatoes. I drained the canned tomatoes in a mesh basket for a few minutes, put them on a cutting board and chopped them a bit, and then added:

The juice of one large lime

A generous spoonful of parsley

A generous pinch of French tarragon

An even more generous spoonful of dill weed

Four cloves of pressed garlic

I toasted the bread with a generous amount of butter.

Add a spoonful of the tomato mix and presto! An easy appetizer! I think I liked the fire roasted tomatoes as much as the fresh ones.

Overcorrection might be a necessary part of the process of change. Sam Harris

Shaved Carrots and Sliced Brussels Sprouts

Veg! Veg! Veg!

It seems like we can't get too many vegetables. We all want to eat as many as we can. This is a tremendously simple way to jazz up a couple of old favorites.

To make this dish in a 9 x 13 casserole, you will need about 6 - 8 large carrots. I made the carrot curls with my peeler, but if you have a mandolin, this would be an ideal use for it.

Use about a dozen and a half sprouts. Shuck the outside leaves and slice them quite thin.

Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over these; and put them in the oven uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes.

While these are roasting, make a drizzling sauce of:

3 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons soy sauce

Juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of dill weed

2 tablespoons of parsley

When the 20 minutes are up, drizzle half of the sauce over the vegetable mix. Bake for 20 more minutes.

Drizzle the rest of the sauce over the mix and cook for a final 20 minutes. The sweet roasted goodness of these is amazing. Enjoy!

Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow. Cicero