Grilled Bruschetta

Don’t let the grilled part intimidate you. If you’re firing up the grill to cook something else, just throw a few slices of bread brushed with olive oil on anywhere you can. You can also simply toast the bread in the oven. Here, I’m using my old standby — sliced low carb hot dog buns, but you can use any loaf of sourdough or french bread. These are little mouthfuls of summer.

The photo below shows them being made with heirloom tomatoes on long slices.

Here, you see the bruschetta cut into manageable size pieces.  These are messy little goomers, so you want to make sure they aren’t big enough to dangle and you want to press your topping firmly into the grilled bread so that it stays put.  Also, avoid having your tomato pieces too big.  In the pictures immediately above and below, I pulsed the topping ingredients in the Nina to make all the little ingredients small.  Note that, as shown in the pictures at the bottom of this page, you can hand chop, if you prefer.

Ingredients

• French loaf (or low carb hot dog buns), sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• Olive oil (both to brush on and to mix with the tomato topping)
• Fresh tomatoes
• Minced garlic
• Basil, cut into thin ribbons (See the Gadgets & Tools page to learn how herb scissors can make that job a snap!)

Slice your bread. Brush with olive oil. Place on the hot grill.

Remove the toasted bread from the grill and allow to cool. Core a tomato. Slice it. (See the cool serrated tomato slicing tool.)

Once the tomato is sliced, stack the slices and use a sharp knife to cut the tomato into small pieces.

Mix with a heaping spoonful of minced garlic. Drizzle with olive oil. Add a little salt and pepper if you like. Mix well. Place a spoonful of the tomato mixture onto each piece of grilled bread. Top with your basil ribbons. Some people like to top it with a little shredded parmesan cheese. I tend to think that’s gilding the lily, but suit yourself. Pop one of these babies into your mouth before deciding whether you want to let anyone else know they exist. Wash the empty platter to hide the evidence if you decide not to share.