Avocado garlic toast with balsamic marinated tomatoes and cucumbers
Does anyone even remember the world before avocado toast?
It's always surprising to remember that the whole concept is relatively new in the scheme of things. But whether or not the trend crashes and burns like other food fads, I'm indifferent because it will always be something I continue to make at home. I actually love having it for dinner when I'm trying to *not* eat a bag of popcorn and/or a bag of candy and/or a jar of pickles and/or a frozen pizza for dinner. But along those lines, I've been loving taking my avocado toast in this summery, savory direction. It reminds me of a Caprese-cucumber salad hybrid, both of which are warm weather favs of mine.
The most important parts of good avocado toast, in my opinion, are seasoning (avocado needs salt, at a minimum, just like guacamole needs salt), a good quality bread, and a perfectly ripe avocado. The way I ensure that last part is by buying a few avocados at a time, all at slightly different levels of ripeness. That way, over the course of a week, I can pick which one is best on a given day. You want the avocado to be just soft (really, just not hard) to the touch but without separation between the skin and "meat" inside. Oh, and citrus! I really, really think avocado is best when mashed up with lemon or lime juice.
Avocado garlic toast with marinated tomatoes and cucumbers
Yields 1 large serving
Mixture of cherry/grape tomatoes, about 6-8, sliced in half length-wise
1 baby cucumber, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely minced until almost a paste
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp good balsamic vinegar
½ tsp Dijon mustard
Salt
Pepper
1 *perfectly* ripe avocado
Juice of ½ lemon (or less if you'd rather it not be super lemony)
Good fresh bread, but specifically garlic or Tuscan loaf
Sprinkling of sesame seeds
Flaky sea salt
In a small bowl, toss together tomatoes, cucumber, garlic, olive oil, balsamic, and Dijon. Season with salt and pepper, stir again, and let marinate for a half hour or so. In a separate bowl, combine avocado with lemon juice (I slice the avocado in half, and then make a grid-like pattern of knife lines on each half. Use a large spoon to scoop each half out and it will already be cut into small cubes). Season that with a bit of salt and pepper as well. Then slice bread ½ inch thick and toast it until nice and deeply golden. Smush (technical term) avocado on toast, followed by tomato-cucumber mixture, and then sprinkle with lots of sesame seeds. Finish off with a bit of flaky sea salt and more pepper if you'd like.
