What I did with my farmers market loot!

I love the farmers market.  I recently visited a great one in my hood in DC. The Dupont Circle Farmers Market is fantastic and year round!

I bought some amazing stuff and here’s what I did with it.

I love, love, LOVE the combination of basil, tomato, cheese and balsamic vinegar. We snack on this all the time. Whether I slice up all the ingredients and nibble straight from the cutting board, or stack them up with little extras like pesto or tapenade and pop them in the oven, there is rarely a nibble of food left to be had.

Today’s recipe is a play on the same yummy snack that I love. My farmers’ market delights inspired these amazing balsamic grape tomatoes on garlic and goat cheese toast. I am in love with this snack and you will be too!

Let’s get cooking!

Slice some crusty bread into 1/2 inch slices, brush with olive oil, then toast.

Look at these gorgeous tomatoes!

Slice tomatoes in half  (I used the whole pint) and mince the garlic (2 cloves).

Heat olive oil in a saute pan (about 2 tablespoons).

Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add some quality balsamic vinegar to the garlic (about 1/4 cup).

Add the tomatoes and mix to coat.

Let them cook away. The balsamic vinegar will reduce and become syrupy and the tomatoes will start to release their juices.

You will suddenly have way more juice than you started with and that is all good. Just let it reduce down. You don’t want the end result to be soupy. You are looking for a thicker sauce.

Toast is ready.

Take a whole clove of garlic and rub it on the still warm toast. It adds such a nice layer of flavor. Really worth doing.

Now it’s time for the cheese! This time, I used goat cheese (another farmers market find), but mozzarella is also a good choice. I just wanted something really creamy and spreadable.

Spread a good amount of cheese on each piece of toast and try not to eat it before you get the tomatoes on there, but be warned — this will be a difficult thing to do.

Tomatoes still cooking away and looking amazing!

My sad-looking, but still very tasty basil!

Spoon a heaping amount of the tomato mixture on top of the goat cheese and top with some basil.

Admire it for a minute.

Now eat!

This is the perfect flavor combination for me. I could eat something like this every single day.

DC’s Dupont Circle Farmers Market

I live in between two great farmers markets in Washington DC. This week I am focusing on the Dupont Circle Farmers Market. I am super jazzed because there’s a chill in the air and I can bust out a scarf and light sweater! I had the best time and bought a bunch of amazing food and will share how I used it soon! The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times of London named the Dupont Circle Farmers Market one of the top farmers’ markets in the country. I bought this bread from Bonaparte Breads and it is delicious! I will show you how I used it in an upcoming post! I also acquired these beauties and paired them with the bread above. So delicious! Hope you enjoy the pics, and the recipe that will follow. But in the meantime, I hope this inspires you to head out to your local farmers market and get cooking!