Garden Bruschetta

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Last Thursday I walked outside after a day of work inside and was taken back by the warm sun and need for no jacket or coat. I went over to my family’s private campground and began the necessary clean up to open it in time for camping this summer. I started a fire to burn old leaves and sticks cluttering the ground and dug into my flower beds and landscape features that needed sprucing up. It was a lot of work but it felt great to be outside and working after a brutal winter trapped indoors.

I was so inspired that I thought it was time to make a garden fresh snack to enjoy outside. For this recipe, I create an Italian-style salsa, or bruschetta and serve it on thin slices of crusty bead. Fresh vegetables combined with parsley, Italian dressing, lemon juice and zest form a fresh and light topping for a crusty baguette. It’s the perfect snack to enjoy on the patio while contemplating major projects that need to be completed to make the yard clean and beautiful for summer.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Garden Bruschetta

I'm so glad its Spring. Winter here in the Midwest was long, cold and snowy. I’ve never been witness to a layer of snow that literally blanketed the ground for three months. Nor have I experienced a major snow fall followed immediately by sub-zero temperatures for days afterward, which happened three or four times in January and February. Needless to say this has been the hardest winter I’ve ever lived through.

In the last two years I have went through two of the wildest seasons in my life, the aforementioned winter and the summer of 2012 which packed 40 or more days of over 90° with one reaching 106°. These are extreme weather shifts and I wonder if they are the direct result of global warming.

I'm just glad the weather will by getting nicer from here on out, it's the end of April and soon the summer will be in full swing, I hope mother nature is good to us because she was a real bitch this winter!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Garden Bruschetta

Makes 28 to 30 appetizers; 35 minutes
1 Tomato, diced
1 Green pepper, diced
1/2 Onion, diced
1 Tbs Parsley, minced
1/2 C Italian dressing
Juice and zest of 1 Lemon
1 Baguette sliced thin

Mix, rest and serve
In a bowl combine tomato, green pepper, onion, parsley, italian dressing, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper to taste. Let rest for 30 minutes for flavors to meld. Place a spoonfull of mixture on a thin slice of baguette and serve.