Name: Recipe for Fresh Lemon Basil and Tomato Bruschetta
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Yield: 16 (2 slices each) servings
Ingredients: 32 slices whole wheat French bread; 12 plum tomatoes, diced; 1 fresh garlic, minced; 1/4 red onions, diced; 1/4 sundried tomatoes, minced; 1 1/2 olive oil; 1 lemon juice; 3 Parmesan cheese, grated; 1/4 Italian parsley, chopped; 1 fresh basil, chopped

toasted slices of bread, topped with chopped tomato, garlic, onion and basil

Appetizers and Sides

Finely-Minced Italian Bruschetta

The Italian table loves bruschetta, a Roman way of using leftover bread to bring the freshest tomatoes and local olive oil to a meal. Properly pronounced with a hard “k” (brusketta), Roman cooks will usually toast the bread and then rub raw garlic cloves over its sandpapery surface to spread the flavor, but this finely-minced addition ensures that the great health benefits of fresh garlic are used to their best advantage. In fact, just about every ingredient of this dish makes good heart sense. A small bottle of good olive oil is a great investment to the taste and nutrition of this dish.