Just replace the white bread with a wholegrain option, and bruschetta can be a healthy snack

Bruschetta is one of the most appealing things on the Italian menu, but the white bread makes it a little unhealthy.  Our reader Nicola gave us a suggestion for a healthy bruschetta, and also shared a great recipe for baked couscous, another nutritious choice.

Bruschetta

6 vine tomatoes, chopped

Dressing:

• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 4 or 5 basil leaves roughly torn
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• black pepper

Method

Mix dressing ingredients together and toss through chopped tomatoes.  Serve on Ryvita or wholegrain crispbread.  The tomato mixture will keep for up to two days in the fridge.

Baked Couscous

Nicola made up this recipe herself and said ‘apologies for the roughness’ – we see no reason to apologise for such a delicious sounding recipe!  The good thing about a ‘rough’ recipe is that you don’t really need to worry about getting quantities exactly right, and can use whatever amounts you have to hand.

Ingredients:

• 8 tomatoes, quartered
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Any other veg suitable for roasting: peppers, butternut squash, sweet potato, red onion – all chopped into roughly the same size pieces
• 1 stock cube made up with 1 pint of boiling water
• 200g couscous

Method:

1. Roast veg and garlic in a shallow dish for 20 to 30 minutes (depending on the veg you are using).
2. Once veg is tender, add the couscous and stock and bake until all the stock is absorbed.  You may need to add more boiling water to ensure all the couscous is covered.
3. You can also add some crumbled goats cheese or feta five minutes from the end for added protein.

I think this would also be delicious with a dollop of tzatziki, hummus or baba ganoush on the side, and a salad of fresh spinach.  Thanks so much Nicola for sharing this!