Hot bruschetta

When your meal is this simple: 

But oh so good...

My husband was watching cooking shows on PBS yesterday and I meandered into the living room just in time to catch Jacques Pepin prepare a dish my husband deemed "hot reverse bruschetta". 

It looked like comfort food and sounded extremely simple. Of course today, shopping for ingredients, Trader Joes wasn't selling shallots, so I substituted a red onion, skipped the thyme and basil and whipped this up, single serving style for lunch.  

Hot Bruschetta

Single serving

One tomato (beefsteak or medium/large vine ripened) 

1/6 of a baguette (seeded, if possible!)

1/3 of a small red onion

1 clove of garlic

Olive oil 

Salt

Pepper

Spray oil

Preheat oven 400 degrees.

Spray oil a individual cassoulet dish. 

Slice the tomato and place at the bottom of the dish.

Cut baguette into small chunks.

Slice the onions and garlic thinly.  

Mix bread, onions and garlic in a bowl with enough olive oil to coat the bread.  

Salt and pepper the tomatoes in the dish and the bread mixture.  

Place the bread mixture on the tomatoes.  

Bake for 30-40 minutes until tomatoes are soft and bread is crispy.  

Enjoy and follow with breath mints.  😁

Jerk Tofu and Coconut Rice

I'm not a tofu fan.  My husband hates it.  But about once a month I buy it and force myself to hide it in something like chili or as teensy little peices in stir fry.

However Jerk Tofu has changed the game.  I found a recipe online and thought I followed it pretty exact until the next day when I realized I butchered a important step in the directions.  So, the moral of the story... If you hate tofu, try the baked version of this recipe and then make these changes:  

2.  Don't blend your ingredients.  You can.  I've since done it, but I actually slightly prefer unblended.  Slice your jalapeño thinly and run your garlic and ginger through your microplane. Stir.  Toss in tofu.  

3.  Slice your tofu on the thin side.  About a quarter of an inch thin.  They may fall apart but those peices get a bit crispier and it's glorious.  

There's the recipe. 

Serve with Coconut Milk Garlic Rice. 

1 cup rice (half white/half brown is my favorite combo)

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk

1 clove of minced garlic 

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add all ingredients, bring to a boil. 

Stir, place a lid on the rice and set the burner on the lowest setting. 

Cook for 20 minutes if white rice, 25 if brown, 

Fluff with a fork and make certain all the liquid has been dissolved.  

Eat with jerked tofu.