Food bites

A few days ago, I bought a whole wheat baguette from Whole Foods Market. I made two bite-sized snacks out of the baguette. One is the chocolate panini sandwich, that I made in my new panini maker. The other is bruschetta. Here are the recipes for both these bite-sized goodies.

Chocolate Panini sandwich

Ingredients8 slices of whole wheat baguette (cut them into 1 inch thick rounds)
4 tsps of Trade Joes Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (you can also use Nutella)
Pam fat-free butter spray

Method1. Spray one side of the baguette with Pam spray.
2. Place the buttered side on the panini maker and spread out the chocolate-hazelnut cream.
3. Cover it with another baguette - buttered side up.
4. Close the panini grill and gently press down on the baguettes.
5. It will take you about 3 to 4 minutes depending on your panini maker.
6. Remove from panini maker when the baguette is brown and you notice deep grill marks.
7. Serve warm. Makes a great dessert.

8. Makes 4 servings.

Chocolate panini sandwiches

Bruschetta
IngredientsA couple of whole wheat baguette slices (cut into 1/2 inch thin rounds)
Pam fat-free olive oil spray
Store-bought bruschetta (I used the bruschetta from Trader Joes - check the end of this post for a quick-bruschetta recipe)
1 pod of fresh garlic

Method1. Spray the baguette slices with the olive oil spray and bake in the oven at 425 degrees for about 7 to 8 minutes or until light brown.
2. Remove from the oven and immediately rub the garlic on the warm bread.
3. Line up on a tray and top with the bruschetta.
4. Serve with pasta or salad.

Warm garlic bread served with bruschetta

Quick bruschetta

Ingredients

5 or 6 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red onion
1/2 tsp of dried basil (use can use fresh basil too)
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste (you can also use red chilli pepper flakes)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or regular olive oil

Method1. Cut the tomatoes into half and remove the seeds. Chop the tomato finely.
2. Chop the onions and the cilantro finely.
3. Transfer the tomatoes, onions and cilantro to a bowl.
4. Add the minced garlic, basil, salt, pepper and cilantro and mix well.
5. Finally add the extra virgin olive oil.

Optional: You can place the tomato-onion mixture on the baguette and top it off with the olive oil instead of mixing it into the mixture.