Barbecued Bruschetta

Happy Monday! Did you have a fabulous long weekend? We've had a good mix of R & R, barbecues, visits with friends and downtime with the poochies.

Today I was planning to putter around the house and do some long overdue closet organization, but what I ended up doing was flipping between a marathon of The Big Bang Theory and a marathon of Two Guys, A Girl & A Pizza Place. Our weather has gone through a dramatic change from hot, sunny and humid to cool, gray and rainy. It was the perfect day to veg out and do a whole lotta' nothin'! 

I really had nothing planned in terms of meals for today, so I pulled out a pizza dough that's been thawed since Saturday. I've been dying to try a pizza dough on the barbie and there seemed like no better time than the present.

Earlier this summer, Lisa did a guest post for Cait at Beyond Bananas giving instructions on barbecuing a pizza. I followed her directions for the crust. It was super easy! If I can have success on the barbie, trust me when I say so can you (we uh, won't talk about that time I almost singed my eyebrows off) :-D !!!!!!

Andrea's Kick Butt Bruschetta

The thing I absolutely love about this bruschetta is the addition of sundried tomatoes. It kicks up the flavour and puts this bruschetta over the top. Today I used all fresh ingredients from my patio garden and it tasted absolutely dreamy! I used a barbecued pizza crust today, but often I slice up a baguette and bake it in the oven. This make a great appetizer that you can get ready before the party and takes just a few seconds to finalize so you can WOW your guests!

2 c. diced tomatoes
1/3 c. sliced sundried tomatoes
1/2 c. thinly sliced fresh basil
1 tbsp minced garlic
 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt & pepper, to taste
1 - 1.5 c. shredded mozzarella

Add all ingredients, except the mozzarella, into a small bowl and mix well to combine. Let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Cook the barbecue pizza dough according to Lisa's directions. Once the crust is cooked on one side, flip it and evenly spread the bruschetta mix over the crust followed by the mozzarella.

Close the lid to the barbecue and let the crust finish baking. Once the crust is cooked and the cheese is all ooey gooey and delicious, remove from the barbecue.

Let sit for a few minutes. Slice into squares and serve.

Hint - the one thing I would do next time is use a slotted spoon when spreading the bruschetta mix onto the pizza crust. Mine ended being a little runnier than I would have liked.

mmmmm.....fresh basil & tomatoes.......

Lightly oiling the dough helped it not to stick to the grill ~ it worked perfectly!

So, I think I need to work on even cooking. It still worked out great, but didn't make for a real cute pic!

Have I ever told you how much I love bruschetta?

I could eat the tomato mix with a spoon :-D

So Good! I couldn't wait to take a bite!

Everyone will love this appie and will be asking you for the recipe!

What is your fave appetizer to serve ~ link it up and share your recipe with me!
What was the best thing you did to celebrate the last long weekend of the summer?

Have a great evening - Enjoy the last few hours of this marvelous holiday Monday,
Andrea

Better Than Grandma's Tomato Soup

...that's what Derek said anyways, although I'm not 100% convinced! Our grandmas are all pretty phenomenal in the kitchen and my soup is pretty darn fantastic....so maybe we should call it tie and leave it at that.

Are you getting "tomatoed" out here on on Vegvacious??? I promise that this will be my last tomato recipe....for this week anyways :-D

Derek's been asking me to make some homemade tomato soup like his grandma does. My dad used to make a wickedly delish tomato soup when we were kids too, so I had lots of inspiration for this one and I have to say it turned out amazingly well. {a little pat on the back now and then is healthy for the soul!}

Homemade Tomato Soup
Serves 4

This soup is soooo delicious! I'm planning to freeze some fresh tomatoes, so that I can whip this up on a cold winter day because it will be perfect as a warm tasty comfort food on a cold dreary day!

6 c chopped tomatoes (I left skins on)
2 c veggie broth
2 c milk (I used 1% dairy milk because that's all I had, but unsweetened original almond milk would have been my first choice if I had some)
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp Earth Balance
sea salt & pepper to taste

Combine the tomatoes and veggie broth in a medium to large pot and place on high heat. Bring to a boil.

Reduce to medium high and add the remaining ingredients. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from the stove.

Add the soup in batches to your blender. Be careful because hot soup in a blender can make the lid pop off! I use an oven mitt to hold the top of the blender on. Pulse until the soup is to your desired consistency. I pulse each batch a few times.

Serve & enjoy. We garnished ours with additional black pepper and some crushed up multigrain pita chips.

Other fab toppings would be a swirl of sour cream, some shredded cheese, croutons or slivered basil --- the options are endless!!!

Eat up, but be warned that tomato soup fresh off the stove is HOT - Warning: tongue burning on the first bite is NOT GOOD! Then you won't be able to taste the rest and that really stinks (er, not that I would know from personal experience ;-) What is it with us food bloggers burning our tongues all the time!??

Do you have a favourite family recipe that you like to re-create?

Have a fabulous day!!! It's Thursday people ~ one more day 'til the weekend woot woot!!!!
Andrea