Pointing Big Fat Fingers

The United States is known for its larger than life attitude. Clichés like “the bigger the better” and “can’t have too much of a good thing” come to mind when considering the stereotypical American way, especially when it comes to food.

Food portions are on the way up due to our out of control distortions of what one portion of food looks like. My mom is always harping about how one serving size of meat should be about the size of a deck of cards. The only time, I eat a potion of meat as small as a deck of cards is if it is the pepperoni on top of my pizza. A can of soda is 12 ounces, but the original bottle of Coca-Cola was only 6 ounces. The amount of food we serve at home and in restaurants is increasing because our idea of what a serving size looks like is seriously fuzzy. For instance, a serving size of ice cream is generally ½ cup; this should be about the size of a baseball. I imagine that when most of us choose to indulge in a bowl of ice cream, it is more like the size of the pitcher’s mound. The following excerpt is from an article that details the increases in portion sizes in the US since the 1970’s for specific foods:

Between 1977 and 1996, portion sizes increased for salty snacks, desserts, soft drinks, fruit drinks, French fries, hamburgers, cheeseburgers and Mexican food. Such increases were large. The quantity of salty snacks increased by 93 calories or 0.6 ounces, soft drinks by 49 calories or 6.8 ounces, hamburgers by 97 calories or 1.3 ounces, French fries by 68 calories or 0.5 ounces and Mexican food by 133 calories, or 1.7 ounces.

This may sound like I am scolding the American people. You may be expecting me to post a recipe for some kind of petite little finger food. But I have another cliché for you: "if you can't beat'em, join'em". That, my friends, is why I mention the portion issue to excuse myself of any responsibility having to do with the out-of-control sizes of my enchiladas. I cannot apologize as my portion distortion is simply a result of the environment in which I grew up.

Not My Fault Fat Bottomed Chicken Enchiladas:

10 flour tortillas (about 10-inches in diameter each)
1 extra large can of red enchilada sauce (or 2 small cans - you will need about 25 ounces)
4 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 small white onion (chopped)
3 C shredded Mexican mixed cheeses (or white or yellow cheddar)
1/2 C sour cream
2 large tomatoes (or 4 small) chopped (you can also use some salsa here by replacing a cup of the fresh tomatoes with 3/4 C of salsa)
olive oil



Cut up raw chicken breasts into strips and coat with chili powder.
Pan-fry the chicken strips until cooked thoroughly, stirring in the chopped onion for the last 5 minutes (the whole process should take about 10 minutes). Once the chicken is cooked and the onion is tender, remove from heat, and set aside.



While chicken is cooling, in a large bowl combine 1 1/2 C shredded cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream.
Chop or shred chicken into small bite-sized pieces and combine with cheese and tomato mixture.
Set aside.



Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
Set up a round dish with the enchilada sauce and set aside



Heat just a few drops of olive oil in a frying pan on high heat (just enough to coat the pan lightly)
lightly toast each side of a flour tortilla.



Place the hot tortilla into the enchilada sauce dish, coating completely.





Set out coated tortillas in a 9"x13" glass casserole dish.



Scoop a generous portion of the chicken mixture into each tortilla (2 heaping wooden spoonfuls which is somewhere between 1/4 C and 1/2 C...to be precise, you can separate the chicken mixture into 10 equal parts to fill each tortilla equally).



Roll each tortilla around the chicken mixture, and tuck in the ends.
Place each enchilada with the seam side facing the bottom of the dish.
Repeat this with about two to three tortillas at a time.
To fit all the enchiladas in the dish, don't be afraid to crowd and squish them together (as pictured).
Once they are all lined up in the dish, pour all the extra enchilada sauce on top, spreading around evenly.



Generously sprinkle the other 1 1/2 C of the shredded cheese evenly over the top.



Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Remove foil and continue baking for another 5 minutes (20 minutes total).



These enchiladas seem to get bigger and bigger every time I make them. I guess I am just trying to keep up with the times. This is not a quick recipe, but it is not too difficult. You can freeze the leftovers for about a month or two if you have a good way to store them. I try not to eat more than one with a side of black beans, and maybe some tortilla chips or rice. Zach eats two with sour cream on top. You can follow this basic recipe and stuff anything you want really inside of them like ground beef, steak, chorizo, or grilled veggies with cheese for a vegetarian option.

Birthday Wishes

Today and tomorrow are the birthdays of two special men in my life. Today is my dad's birthday, and tomorrow is my uncle John's Birthday. In honor of their special days, I am making yet another Lebanese recipe that reminds me of time spent together as a family during the holidays growing up.



I visited Beirut for the first (and so far only) time when I was 13 years old. I was in the eighth grade, and it was spring break. I went with my two uncles, my aunt, and my baby cousin. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life meeting most of my dad's side of the family for the first time. I have a big family, and they were all genuinely happy to have us there. They were even happier to offer up any and every type of food I could ever imagine, exceedingly more than my stomach could handle. The family seemed to spend so much time together, and much of it seemed centered around food (which was of course fine by me). I seem to remember doing a whole lot for just having visited for about 10 days. I saw the house where my dad was born, we had a big snowball fight in this woodsy area among the famous cedars of Lebanon, we visited ruins, I shopped in a jewelry market, we drove along the coast where I got to see what was described to me as "suicide rock", and I even got to visit a bakery where I was allowed to try my hand at baking manaeesh which became a favorite of mine. We also visited a huge bakery called Sea Sweet, which was full of French pastries. It honestly surprises me that I remember the name of that bakery, but I guess it really left an impression.

Something else that left a strong impression was seeing many of the women in my family sitting around a large table in a small apartment making hundreds of Easter cookies. I know when you think of Easter cookies, you think of colorful sprinkles, jelly beans, or even those weird, almost chalky, sugar cookies with super sweet, thick and firm icing that you buy at the grocery store in the bakery section. These cookies are not like that. They are shaped like small, thin doughnuts and are stuffed with a date mixture. The cookie part is crumbly and not to sweet because the dates are. I really cannot think of anything to which they are similar. They are not pretty, and I even admit that you really need to have a taste for them. The cookies are incredibly traditional, and I have a soft spot in my memory and in my stomach for them. They are so distinct that even as I started making them, the smell of the dough made me nostalgic. I literally brought Zach over to my baking table and had him to smell it. I felt like that smell could almost let him experience a part of my past in a way that cannot be accomplished through hearing stories and seeing pictures. Even now, as I write this, the cookies are baking. The smell is so strong in my small apartment, and it reminds me of times sharing these cookies with the people I love every Christmas when my aunt would make them. So that is what I am going to do, share them with the people I love.... specifically my dad and uncle for their birthdays. Two tins of these cookies will be shipped out on Tuesday morning, one to Tampa and the other to Denver. Happy Birthday! Since this is my first time making these cookies, I think I will call them:

First Date Cookies

(This recipe comes from a great Lebanese cooking blog called, Taste of Beirut)


1 lb. of semolina
1 lb. of farina or cream of wheat
4 sticks of unsalted butter (softened or melted down to form a creamy texture)
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup of rose water
1/4 cup of orange blossom water
1 teaspoon of mahlab, (optional, but I used it)
1 lb date paste (also called baking dates)

I found all of these ingredients easily at an Armenian grocery store, but I am fairly confident you will find everything listed here besides the mahlab at any major grocery store.







Mix semolina, farina (or cream of wheat), mahlab and sugar to blend.
Mix in the butter until consistent throughout.
Add the milk, rose water and orange blossom water and mix well.
Let sit for a few hours in the refrigerator

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Lay out some wax paper to work on.
Take a large handful of the dough and role it into a long log or snake shape.
Use your finger to flatten the dough log, creating a spot down the middle for the date paste
roll some date paste out to a thin log shape and place it down the middle of your dough.



Close the dough around the date
At this point, you should have a long, fairly thick log of dough with the dates running through the middle.



Tear off a section of the dough filled with dates (about a 2 inch section).
Roll out the section with your fingers to smooth out the dough and secure it around the dates. This will extend the length of the 2-inch section to about 4 inches.



Seal the two ends together to make the 4 inch section into a circle.



Repeat this process with all of your dough and date paste. You should be able to make about 50 cookies.



Bake at 325 degrees F on a large baking sheet until the tops of the cookies begin to turn into a light golden color (this will take about 40 minutes).



Enjoy these cookies for breakfast with coffee or as a dessert with milk of course.



These cookies will keep very well for a about two weeks if stored properly in a tin or Tupperware container. You can also freeze them for a month or two.

Man Food

Esquire Magazine: it is smart, funny, sarcastic, and classy. The magazine’s “people-who-read-this-magazine-are-smarter-or-at-least-definitely-better-overall-than-anyone-else” tone is what sets it apart from other magazines for men; GQ is too cliché and Maxim is too slimy. Esquire readers enjoy intelligent articles about anything from serious social and political issues to what the next electronic gadgets will be or tips on how to make a pie by Mary Louise Parker. While they can still certainly be scandalous, I have to admit their articles on women always incorporate some kind of interesting angle. All this talk about class makes the following excerpt (which will serve as this posting's recipe) from the latest issue seem out of place:

When I'm at the stoves, I rarely have time to eat a plate of food from start to finish, so lately I've commissioned my girlfriend to make me this sandwich every few days, and I just eat sections of it when I need to: Take a large, airy baguette with a thin crust, cut off the ends, and carve out as much of the insides as you can using a long, skinny knife or the handle of a wooden spoon. Then take whatever you like from the deli counter — prosciutto, ham, salami, some provolone, marinated vegetables — and jam everything in there with the spoon handle. Fire the whole thing in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees and slice it up. —Dennis Leary, The Sentinel, San Francisco

Really? Hollow out a baguette, and use the end of a large stick to shove meat and cheese and who knows what else deep down into it? This sounds barbaric, messy, crude, manly, and well, delicious. Best of all, Esquire calls this concoction "Meat Bread". When I described the process to my male coworkers I was met with wide eyes and smiles. One of them compared the technique to packing a musket which I think is fairly accurate. While this technique would never be considered the height of class, it works. I can testify to that through the art of photography.



I like to imagine the possibilities of what can be packed into the hollowed baguette, but I think your fantasy meat bread recipe will depend on your personal preference.



I am sure I will be making this again, but this time I used ground beef, colby jack cheese, and homemade tomato sauce. Why?...because that is what I had. It tasted like a meatball sub. Here it is, all stuffed and ready for toasting:



For a successful loaf of meat bread, make sure to stuff the hollowed out baguette to the limit without breaking the crust open (as seen in the first picture). Do it.

Hand-Me-Downs

I always like the idea of things being passed down through generations. I have a ring my mom got from my grandfather (on my dad's side). It is unique and so pretty. I wear it all the time, but I don't think the "passing down" of this ring was anything momentous. I am pretty sure my dad's dad just gave it to my mom as a gift a long time ago, maybe before I was born. At some point I found it in her drawer and basically just took it since I know she does not wear rings.



I like old-looking jewelry and even sometimes furniture. There is something comforting about items that look like they have been through a lot. This certainly goes for old recipes as well. If something has been made so many times over the years by a certain number of people, it seems that by the time it gets to me it will be nearly perfect. People add their own touches to the recipe to make it better and better, and eventually there is nothing left to add. Of course there is something to be said about wanting to add your own touch to the list of changes.

I don't mention any of this because the following recipe is one that has been passed down to me. I mention this because it is a recipe with which I would like to start the pass-down process. I am sure there will be a lot of traditional recipes I will want to pass along, but I tend to put more importance on foods that say something about where my family comes from. Kafta (also sometimes spelled "kofta") is a traditional Lebanese dish. I ate a lot of Lebanese food (including kafta) growing up, but it was always bought prepared. It is important to me to for future generations of my family to know a thing or two about their heritage, and one of the best ways to ensure that happens is through food. Kafta is so simple to make, but it is a very traditional Lebanese food (the same can be said for hummus) so it was a great start for me. It is something I think everyone can enjoy as well.

Kafta for the Ages

Makes 8 sausages

1 lb lean ground beef or ground lamb (I used beef because it was what I had, but I would like to try it both ways before sticking with one)
1 C chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 C freshly minced white onion
1 large egg
1/2 tsp Lebanese 7 spices*
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

* You can buy the 7 spices already made from most Middle Eastern grocery stores.



Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.



Form into 8 sausages.



Put the sausages on the grill for about 15 minutes (until cooked to your preference)*
You can form the meat around wooden skewers if that makes it easier, but according to my dad, they should not be skewered.

*Traditionally, they should be slightly pink in the middle.





Serve with warm pita bread and hummus.



Please do not think I will be forgetting my mom's side of the family: the Puerto Ricans. I have such plans for them! There is a particular rice and beans dish my grandmother always makes for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas that I will be paying close attention to this year so any kind of posting on that will have to wait another few months. There is also the rum cake my Aunt Janet has perfected. I could go on.

It foods

I don’t know when this happened; probably it was around the time that everyone became a vegetarian. But hummus is now an “it food”. There is a short list of foods that have been around for a long time, but in just the past few years have become increasingly popular. According to my observations (which are honestly just based on my experience living in the self-important state of California) these “it foods/drinks” are: hummus, soy, green tea, lentils, yogurt, blueberries, egg whites, salmon and whole grain anything. These foods are generally associated with a healthy diet. I imagine they make up a significant chunk of the foods and drinks the kind of people who do a lot of yoga consume. Of course there is nothing wrong with any of the foods on this list or yoga (although I would like to use this opportunity to say I do not condone the practice of yoga as a replacement for intense cardiovascular activity). All of these foods have their own specific health benefits:

Yogurt has a high level of calcium and provides your body with what is described as “good bacteria” that you need for your digestive and immune systems

Blueberries/green tea contain high levels of antioxidants, which are compounds that essentially fight the good fight against the “evil” free radicals out to destroy your cells which are believed to be linked to cancer (although there is still debate about that).

Salmon provides high levels of protein and the ohsohotrightnow omega-3 fatty acids.

Egg Whites are simply a great source of protein without the fat and cholesterol found in the yolks. Although cholesterol may not necessarily be the beast we have made it out to be for so many years. For more on that, you should rent the documentary this guy made.

There is much controversy surrounding soy. It is difficult to know what to believe. I choose not to go into it here; I would rather leave it up to the experts for and against the bean product.

Whole grain foods have become increasingly popular as has the witch hunt against carbohydrates. While whole grains still contain carbohydrates, they are considered a healthier option than refined grains because of their fiber content.

Like lentils, hummus (made mostly of chick peas) is considered a healthy food because of its high fiber and mineral contents. Unlike lentils, I would eat hummus all the time regardless of its nutritional value.

Hummus is a food I grew up eating. Being of Armenian/Lebanese decent, it was something I ate and enjoyed with my family for as long as I can remember. The hummus situation in my house was always accounted for. Other Lebanese foods floated in and out of our kitchen over the years, but hummus was a staple. It was only the good stuff too. Our hummus was usually from the neighborhood Middle Eastern grocery store called Sahara in Tampa. It was fresh, the perfect texture, and full of flavor.

When I bought a food processor the other day, the first thing I wanted to make was my very own hummus. I literally googled “what is in hummus” (although it turns out I knew exactly what was in hummus…I just didn’t want to miss something). Most basic hummus recipes are made up of chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice and garlic. I put all these ingredients in my food processor and went to work. I ended up adding a lot more lemon juice than I had expected, but I was able to get it to exactly how I like it (which may be a little different for each person). I had to make two batches because unfortunately, due to either my inexperience using a food processor or my lack of common sense for the moment, I used my spatula to wipe the sides clean while the processor was still running. A small chunk of rubber was immediately chopped up into unrecognizable pieces and blended with the first batch of hummus I made.



Take two was infinitely more successful and even tasted better (probably because it did not contain small amounts of rubber in each bite like the first one did).

Not Just Because It Is Good For You Hummus:

2 Cans chickpeas, drained (I will post an update next time when I soak overnight and cook my own chickpeas to let you know if it makes a difference or not...I am guessing not)
1/4 C tahini (more or less to taste)
1/2 C lemon juice (more or less to taste)
2-3 cloves garlic (chopped, crushed or minced)
salt and pepper to taste (about a 1/2 tsp each)



Just put all ingredients in a food processor (mine is a 6-cup processor, and it was more than big enough). Process ingredients for about 3-5 minutes or until well-blended. Taste and add different amounts of the ingredients as you go along.



Garnish the dish with a high quality olive oil, pine nuts and paprika as pictured. Other common garnishes include chopped fresh parsley, whole garbanzo beans

COMING SOON: Keep an eye out for an upcoming posting I will be calling, "The Hummus Experiment". I will be mixing several (some very unlikely) flavors into hummus and ranking them in order of deliciousness. I have a huge list of spices, sauces, and other weirdo things I am going to try (I don't want to give anything away for now), but please feel free to make any suggestions.

The Brunch Club, August Edition

I am a huge fan of combined words. I know most people are not, but I cannot help it; they make me laugh. Brunch is a word that combines the words “breakfast” and “lunch”, and this posting is first of hopefully many “Special Brunch Edition” posts. Some of our friends have decided to get together for monthly Sunday potluck-style brunches. Everyone will bring a dish or beverage, and a different person will host each week. I will feature the recipe for whatever dish I make each month, and I welcome any of my fellow brunchers to post your recipes here as well. Here is the breakdown of characters and what they brought for this event…in combined word fashion, of course:

NATALUE: Natalie and Sue are the sisters. It was their idea to start this whole thing, so you can thank them for all following “Special Brunch Editions” whether you like’em or not. Natalie brought turkey bacon and tomatoes. She grows her own tomatoes as well as eggplant, peppers, and probably some other things. Sue tried growing basil once, but unfortunately it died.





ANDICE: Andy and Candice are Canadians. Of course, they are laid-back-super-nice-always-pleasant-to-have-around kind of people. This time they brought fruits salad with yogurt and honey (picture not available), but sometimes they like to stick secret ingredients like avocado in their vegan chocolate cupcakes so we always have to watch out for these two.

BREANNA: Brian and LeAnna’s combined names make an actual name, and I think that is really special. BreAnna brought brownies to brunch. That is a tongue twister, and something makes me think they did this on purpose.



SUBE: Sue (of Natalue) and Brian just got married in July. This makes Natalie and Brian family and sometimes arch enemies. Bratalue (Three names. Too much? I apologize) gets together once a week for “family dinner” which I think is very sweet. Sue is a vegetarian. Brian likes raw meat.



ROBILY: Emily has deep red hair. It used to be super curly like mine, but now it is straight…probably because there is never room for two curly headed girls in one brunch group. Rob works for NASA and occasionally leaves just a little too early from games of Loaded Questions. Robily did not bring anything to brunch, probably because they were not there.

LINDZACHARY: That’s us. We hosted this week. “We” made baked brie and little quiches. I left my not-that-great camera somewhere else this weekend and had to take all the pictures on Zach’s camera phone. I think they turned out pretty well considering. Unfortunately, it took him “a long time, like 20 minutes” to email me all the pictures individually. I think my baked brie made up for it.



Featured Brunch Recipe: Mini Crustless Quiche

(recipe adapted from Bread and Honey)

4 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 grated carrot
1 grated zucchini
3 small mushrooms, finely chopped
1 small shallot, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
handful of chopped fresh parsley
1 C ground chorizo sausage, cooked (you can just leave this out completely for a vegetarian recipe. I made 6 quiches with the chorizo and 6 without. Bacon or breakfast sausage might also taste nice.)
large handful of grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon flour
salt & pepper
*You can use any vegetables or cheese you like (broccoli, sun dried tomato, goat cheese, spinach, etc)



Preheat oven to 350ºf.
Quickly saute grated carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, shallot, and garlic until tender.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, fresh parsley, grated cheddar, flour, and pinches of salt and pepper.
Generously grease a 12-muffin tin with butter. In the bottom of each cup, spoon in a small amount of sautéed vegetables. On top of that, spoon some of the cooked chorizo (or whatever meat you are using. Fill in by pouring the egg mixture to almost the top in each cup.
Bake for 20 minutes or until firm and puffy. Allow to cool a little before attempting to remove.

The Whole Package

Everyone has something special they do for birthday, anniversary or Valentine's Day celebrations. Some of you like to have your favorite home cooked meal made for you, or maybe you have a special cake your mother has always made for your birthday. Zach and I do steak dinner. We will use any reason to celebrate by going out for a steak dinner. We do about three of these dinners each year: my birthday, his birthday, anniversary (sometimes Valentine's Day). We treat each other for our birthdays, and we try to find different places to go each time. The ones we have done since moving to Los Angeles include: Houston's, The Lodge (which is closed now, unfortunately), The Montecito Cafe, Ruth's Chris, and Fogo De Chao. A quick review of each, you ask? Why, of course:

Houston's: Although they have some in Florida, I never went to Houston's until I moved to Los Angeles. I would describe this place as the kind of restaurant that wealthy folks will go to for a hearty burger. It is nice, always busy, and the food is everything you want it to be when going in for a steak dinner: The steak is always cooked properly, the potatoes are creamy with a salty and crisp skin, and the wine selection is more than I can ask for.

The Lodge: Apparently, this place is closed now. It is a shame because it was definitely a restaurant to which I was planning a return visit. Oh well.

Montecito Cafe: We went up the coast about an hour and a half to Santa Barbara for our anniversary last year. This place was not a steakhouse. They had a variety of dishes, steak being one of them. The thing that impressed me about this place was the way everything went together. Usually at a steakhouse, I am just there for the steak and nothing else really matters, but this meal felt so complete. The side dishes (mashed potatoes and vegetables) and the appetizer (goat cheese pancakes) were outstanding without completely stealing the show. It was a nice overall experience.

Ruth's Chris: I always enjoy steak dinner. This one was delicious and satisfying as usual. However, I don't think I will be back. This place was a little too prissy for my taste. Of course everything was fantastic, but I prefer the laid back atmosphere of Houston's. I even prefer the steak at each of these other places to the steak here. Here is the gist of it: I like my steak to be tender, juicy and beefy; this steak was tender, juicy, and delicate which is fine... just not my preference.

Fogo De Chao: Holy cow! This place is intense, and by intense I mean life-changingly delicious. Lovely servers parade around the restaurant with skewers of filet mignon, parmesan encrusted pork loin, tender chicken wrapped in bacon, top sirloin, lamb, and other delicious things I cannot even remember. There is a salad bar full of fine cheeses, vegetables, and cold cuts. The bread is warm and gooey. This is definitely the most expensive place on my little list (start saving now!), but it is also an amazing experience. I have said enough on this.

Ah, steak dinner. It has been quite a few months since the last time we had one of these celebratory outings. I was craving this sort of thing the other day but had not the special occasion nor the special funds required to celebrate. Zach and I took a ride to the grocery store and bought the materials to make an extravagant steak dinner with all the fixings for just $9.00 each. $18.00 bought us 2 juicy filet mignons, fresh bruschetta on garlic clove artisan bread, balsamic roasted asparagus, and homemade sweet potato fries. We broke open a bottle of wine we had left from our trip to Sonoma that probably cost about the same amount as the entire meal. Either way, we enjoyed a $140 meal for a little more than it costs for a trip to the movies in Los Angeles for two. Anyone who knows me knows I love movies, but I do dare to call this meal:

Better than the Movies Steak Dinner:

In the leading role, we have: Filet Mignon

2 steaks (filet mignon and NY strip are among my favorites)
pinch of salt and pepper for each
dab of olive oil for each

Rub the olive oil into your room temperature steaks, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. The idea here is to let the flavor of the steak take center stage. Grill steaks for about 10 minutes (5 minutes on each side) on med/high heat for a steak that is medium rare. That is according to our grill, but you should not be ashamed to slice it open a little to take a peek inside if you need to.



Did I mention we put sauteed mushrooms on top of the steaks?

NOW FOR EVERYTHING ELSE:



Bruschetta

2 medium sized tomatoes (heirloom tomatoes in different colors like red, orange, and yellow work nicely)
4 think slices of an artisan-style bread (about 1 1/2 inches thick)
high quality olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 clove garlic (whole)
salt and pepper to taste

Chop the tomatoes (not too too small), and try to get rid of excess tomato seeds and juice. Add salt, pepper, minced garlic and 1 tbsp of olive oil to the tomatoes. Mix together and set aside.
Use a pastry brush to lightly coat each slice of bread with olive oil on all sides. Place the slices of bread in a nonstick pan over med/high heat until it turns a golden brown color. Flip each slice of bread to do the same on the other side. Rub the whole garlic clove into the surface of each slice for flavor.



Pile the tomato mixture generously on top of each slice of warm bread. The bread should be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.





Sweet Potato Fries

Two medium sized sweet potatoes
olive oil (to coat)
kosher salt to taste

Preheat oven 425 degrees F
Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly. Cut potatoes to shape and size of preference. Place potato slices in a Ziploc bag. Add olive oil, and shake the slices around in the bag to coat with the oil. Once the fries are coated with oil, add the salt to the bag and shake it around again to coat with salt. Spread the coated potato slices on baking sheet, making sure to keep a little space between each one. Bake for 10 minutes; flip each slice and bake the other side for another 10 minutes or until toasted to your liking (should take about 20 minutes in all).

Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus spears
1/4 C olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
kosher salt and black pepper



Preheat oven on to the broil setting.
Make sure to trim the base ends of the asparagus (if needed). Put asparagus spears, olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a Ziploc bag. Shake it all about to coat. Spread asparagus spears out on a large baking pan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Broil for 5 minutes and serve right away.