Vegetarian Gourmet: Easy Hors d'Oeuvres

Whether you're looking to lower your grocery bill, improve your health, or decrease your carbon footprint, eating less meat can help you reach your goals. Vegetarian Gourmet is a segment in which I share recipes for healthy meatless meals and snacks. It's also a segment in which I prove to my friends who read the blog that I don't eat rabbit food for every meal. Today's repas is something I've been wanting to make for awhile so I am very excited to share. Because I have no imagination today I am going to call these Goat Cheese Tomato Toasts:

My affair with goat cheese began early in my semester in Paris, during which I made myself a salad with warmed, breaded goat cheese (or chèvre as I pretentiously still call it) every night for dinner. I haven't had too much chèvre in the past year since I've taken most of my meals at the illustrious West Campus Fresh Foods Co. (aka the dining hall, with all the freshmen), but rest assured it is still one of my favorite foods. During my Salads in Paris days I noticed that goat cheese complemented tomato especially well, and have wanted to put the two together in a different dish ever since. And what better ingredient to add as a backdrop to my cheese-tomato combo than some delicious, hearty bread?

You'll need:

-2 slices whole grain bread

-2 small tomatoes

-a few ounces of goat cheese

-a sharp knife

-a toaster oven (preferably with a tray insert)

-aluminum foil

Instructions:

1 . Using the sharp knife cut the crust off the bread. Quarter each slice, making sure each square is about the same size.

2. Cover the tray with the aluminum foil. Place the bread squares on the foil and toast until the tops are golden brown. Remove the tray, flip the squares over, and toast the other side.

3. While the bread is toasting, prepare the tomato slices: cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze out the pulp. Next, cut them into triangles (like I did), or squares, rectangles, or any other shape you think will look cute.

4. When the bread is ready, use the knife to spread as much goat cheese as you want across each square. Top them off with a slice of tomato, arrange them nicely on a fancy plate and you're done!

(makes 8 pieces)