Everyday Pleasures

~Summer is a time for doing things more slowly~

I can't say that I have been the most creatively productive person recently, but I do try to bring in elements of the creative into my daily life as much as possible.  Today was our final staff meeting and farewel luncheon, and we all convened for lunch at the Palace Hotel near Express Bus Terminal for a magnificent buffet lunch. 

Inspired not only by my gourmet meal, but also by the fact that the hotel was very near to the French village, I decided to make my own little gourmet meal for dinner.

I went over to the Paris Croissant and the Home Plus Express in the French district to see what I could find.  I was not dissappointed as I found not only a scrumptious 'Pain de Campagne', but also a healthy little basil plant (something that I've been searching for for a long time!!) 

After a long afternoon of leasurely reading and sketching, I made my way back to my apartment and made this tasty little morsel.  In all, it took about 15 minutes.  It took even less time to polish it off, but it was worth it!  Read on for my invented recipe.

Tomato and basil on toast:
-Cut two generous slices of bread and stick them into the toaster till they are medium brown.
-Finely dice two tablespoons of green onions (or to taste)
-Dice 8-10 cherry tomatos and add them in a bowl with the onions.
-Pick about 4-5 basil leaves and finely chop them.  (Add to bowl)
-Add salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil and mix up mixture thoroughly.
-Once the toast pops, slice 1 clove of garlic and rub the raw garlic about 4 times across the surface of the bread.  You don't want to add too much, just enough to give it a bit of a zing!
-Spoon about 3/4 of your mixture onto the toast and place on a baking tray. 
-Pour a little glug of olive oil over top and stick into a toaster oven at 150oC for about 5-6 minutes.
-Remove from tray (I used tongs to place them on the plate).
-Sprinkle the rest of the tomato, basil, onion mixture on top and coat with a final drizzle of olive oil.

Serve immediately with a little glass of chilled white wine (or whatever you'd like to drink) and ENJOY!!!!!!!!