One of my go-to lunches this time of year is Bruschetta.  Simple, colorful, satisfying, and Vegan, this dish has all the basic food groups:

• Vegetables (roasted red peppers, capers)
• Grains (my homemade Seeded Rye Levain Bread)
• Fruit (olives in Pate Nere from Puglia)
• Nuts (Kite Hill Almond Milk Ricotta)
• Chocolate (especially if you include some of Barbara’s Avocado Chocolate Mousse)

Bruschetta on the plate

Lots of variations are possible, depending on what you like and what you have.  Here are the basic steps I used:

• Bread.  I had baked two loaves of my seeded rye bread in December, eating one at the time and freezing the other. Two days ago I defrosted the second one, and today there was half the loaf left.  Toast, grill or pan-fry two slices of the bread; I fried mine with olive oil in a skillet.
• Toppings.  The first layer was almond milk Ricotta, made more spreadable by mashing it with olive oil.  Next came the Pate Nere, right from the jar.  This one is just organic olives and oil — no capers, anchovies, parsley, or Cognac.  Finally, I had roasted some wonderful and inexpensive Israeli sweet red peppers from the market several days ago.   They had been peeled, sliced and marinating in oil and capers in the refrigerator since.  They were warmed up in the skillet after the bread was done, and slid on top of the other layers.  Notice the presence of organic olive oil in everything.  I believe it has contributed greatly to my health; it has had NO effect on my weight; and it’s responsible for the shimmering umami you see in the closeup photos, below.
• Dessert.  I rarely do desserts, but this avocado mousse is outstanding.  And it is vegan.  The recipe is at the bottom of the posting.

I chose not to drink wine at lunch.  I don’t want to fall asleep while grading papers this afternoon.  Almost any red wine will be perfect with this.

just a little avocado chocolate mousse left

Chocolate Avocado Mousse Recipe