Inspired by our friends at Klondike Brands and their co-promotion with Meatless Monday, we decided to ditch the meat and spotlight FRESH alternatives in this edition of Office Eats. Bountiful herb harvests and Sunset Campari’s got us thinking “bruschetta”, but we weren’t gonna settle for just the traditional version. Each of us raided our home cupboards and fridges and contributed two items, which resulted in a massive pile of gluttonous glory. It wasn’t long before our creative wheels started turning and amid a chorus of chopping, roasting, spreading and crunching, we ended up with lots of out-of-this-world apps that we will definitely make again. Check out some of our crew’s favorites below.

Sweet Crunch Bruschetta

• Goat Cheese
• Diced SUNSET Campari Tomatoes
• Living Herbs Fresh Basil
• Parmesan
• Onion Crunch

Simple Strawberry Bruschetta

• Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• Fresh California Giant Strawberries – sliced
• Balsamic

Creamy Fig Bruschetta

• Fig Preserves
• Blue Cheese Crumbles
• Sliced Red Grapes

Meany Greeny Crostini

• Basil Cream Spread
• Diced Sunset Brand Tomatoes
• Diced Avocado
• Diced roasted Poblano pepper

Heavenly Dessert Crostini

• Cinnamon Butter spread
• Fresh California Giant Strawberries – diced
• Sliced Red Grapes
• Almonds or Walnuts, if desired.

As it turns out, making bruschetta or crostini in your office is incredibly simple. All you need is a toaster oven, a good knife to slice the baguette and a few good paring knives. Check out what we used:

The Equipment:

• Breville Compact Smart Oven
• 1 or more paring knives
• 1 Cuisinart Electric Knife (not necessary, but sure makes slicing a baguette easy and fun)
• A few plastic knives or spoons

The Process & Prep Time:

• Slice the French Baguette into thin slices, about ½ inch thick.
• Arrange slices and sprinkle with California Olive Ranch olive oil.
• Bake bread slices in 350 degree oven for 5-6 minutes until edges are brown and crispy.
• In the meantime, get your ingredients prepared and ready to spoon and sprinkle onto bread slices.
• Top your bread slices with whatever flavor combination suits you, and then enjoy!

We found that the best recipes used a creamy spread for the base. Cream cheese, goat cheese, basil spread, pesto, or preserves all work well, so pick your poison. After that, choose your ingredient to complement your base and your whole office will feel like gourmet foodies in no time. You can even try making a game out of it and have an unbiased judge sample each person’s bruschetta and name one “mo betta”!

Posted by: The Promoter (Mackenzie Michel)