Seasonal Goodness...

I love seasonal fruits and veggies. They are at the peak of their taste, and are usually locally grown. Why is locally grown better? Because it means that the fruit or vegetable has been picked at its peak, full of all of its nutritional goodness, and will stay that way by the time it gets to your home because it did not have to travel too far to get there!

My sister gets a locally grown, organic fruit and veggie box every week, and this week, there were some yummy orange cherry tomatoes, one massive red tomato, and two very pretty, green heirloom tomatoes. There were also some very pungent sprigs of basil in there too. Naturally, I had to make some bruschetta mix out of it. I find that if you make it at least a few hours in advance, the basil and tomato get a chance to get to know one another really well, and their flavors meld together really well. Many people put raw garlic into their bruschetta, I am not a fan of raw garlic flavor, and frankly, if you have really local, fresh ingredients, I don't think you need it.

There was also some swiss chard in the box, and my sister also has a tonne of swiss chard growing in her backyard, so we also decided to make some scrambled tofu with swiss chard. And voila! dinner is served.

Bruschetta: Ingredients

Tomatoes - any kind, diced

Lots of fresh basil, chopped up into bits

Parmesan cheese, grated

Olive oil, extra virgin cold pressed is best

Fresh squeezed lime juice

Salt

Fresh ground pepper

Fresh baguette, sliced, brushed with olive oil and toasted in the oven

Directions:

1. Mix together the tomatoes and basil.

2. Add enough olive oil, to lightly coat everything, shouldn't be more than a couple tablespoons

3. Add parm cheese, this is all dependent on how cheesy you like it. I would recommend not putting in too much, it'll take away from your fresh local goodness!

4. Add a squeeze of lime juice - just enough for a touch of tang

5. Add salt and pepper to your liking. You many not need a lot of salt because parm cheese is pretty salty.

6. Let this mixture meld for a few hours and serve on warm, crusty baguette slices.

Scrambled tofu with swiss chard

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 block of medium firm tofu

6-7 leaves of swiss chard, rougly chopped

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp turmeric

Salt to taste

Squeeze of lime juice

Directions:

1. In a hot pan, add oil, then sautee onions with a dash of salt.

2. When onions are soft, add tofu, toss around for a couple minutes

3. Add swiss chard, and cook on medium heat for 6-7 minutes, or until stalks are tender.

4. Add curry powder, turmeric and salt to taste

5. Serve on plate with a generous squeeze of lime juice. yumyum!!