Bruschetta Salad

Bruschetta is pure magic. We can all agree on it. If you’re at some sort of Italian restaurant, and they don’t offer some sort of bruschetta or bruschetta-based appetizer, you end up feeling slightly cheated, because Bruschetta Is Magic.

But what if we started deconstructing these dishes that we love so much? What if we replaced the grilled bread with wonderful, glorious mozzarella cheese?

Then you would have this amazing side dish, which blew the heck out of my mind and went like gangbusters alongside those fabulous little stuffed mushroom sliders from a few days back. (DW)

4 medium sized tomatoes, diced
1 handful of basil, chopped (based on preference)
¼ cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pkg of fresh mozzarella cheese, drained, and thinly sliced
Salt, to taste
Balsamic vinegar



In a medium bowl, add tomatoes, basil, onion, garlic, and olive oil. Mix until combined. Refrigerate for 1 hour, to allow all flavors to marinate together.



On a flat serving tray, lay the mozzarella cheese slices in rows (overlapping slightly) until the serving tray is covered. Sprinkle a small amount of salt, to taste, over mozzarella cheese. Spoon the tomato mixture over the mozzarella cheese. Drizzle Balsamic Vinegar over the cheese and tomatoes. Serve immediately. (AW)

4-Cheese Spinach Mushrooms Sliders

There are honestly times where I wish I had the strength and endurance to be a vegetarian. I look at friends of mine who are vegetarians, and they seem so at peace with the world. They look healthy, and friendly, and they’re only occasionally smug about it.

I also know some vegans. Those people can’t eat cheese, however, and I can’t stress how much that bums me out. This post isn’t for them.

Who is this post for? It’s for the vegetarians who know, deep down in their hearts, that they’re missing out on the Culture of the Barbecue.

Because, make no mistake about it, that’s what is...a Culture. Standing around a hot grill, draining a ice cold Blue Moon, and burning the high holy crap out of some brats or a burger.

So you can imagine my shock and surprise that such a meat-focused culture is so easily translatable into purely plant-based terms. But that, of course, is the magic of my wife, who I’m 98.8% sure is some sort of wizard.

By the way, I’ve never been a fan of sliders, but I’ll allow these because they’re so dang tasty. Also, what if we started calling midgets “sliders”? That would be funny, yeah? (DW)

8 baby portabella mushrooms
5 oz frozen spinach, defrosted, and drained of any excess liquid
4 tablespoons cream cheese
4 tablespoons feta cheese
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons green onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper, to taste
8 Slider Buns

Clean and remove the stems from the portabella mushrooms.

In a medium bowl, mix defrosted spinach, cream cheese, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, green onion, garlic, salt and pepper.

Spoon equal portions of spinach-cheese mixture into each of the portabella mushrooms. Grill on BBQ for 5-10 minutes, or until mushroom is tender (I grill my mushrooms on a piece of aluminum foil).

Serve on toasted slider buns.

*These mushrooms can also be served without the slider bun as an appetizer (AW)

Farm Fresh to You Friday!

Here is what we get in our Farm Fresh to You delivery this week: Yellow Peaches, Oranges, Tomatoes, Galia Musk Melon, Blueberries, Bing Cherries, Baby Broccoli, Beets, Cauliflower, Arugula, Snap Peas, Rosemary, Yellow Onion, Sweet Gypsy Peppers

We have been so busy lately, that we have not really had time to blog. I am hoping next week that will change. I have lots of good ideas for dinner thanks to our fruit and veggie delivery this week! I plan on making salmon with a caprece salad (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar), blueberry pancakes, a roasted beet salad served with arugula and an orange champagne vinaigrette (it sounds fancier then it really is!), and some stuffed peppers. Can’t wait for all of this good food!

Now let’s just hope we have time to make it all and report back to you on how it came out! Have a great weekend. (AW)