Healthy tomato bruschetta makes great gluten free snacks
I am crazy about bruschetta, but since making and loving the upgrade to a gluten free diet, I haven’t made it in a very long time. Recently I visited Spain, and after indulging in the local pan con tomate (which is essentially bruschetta without the basil), I got fired up about finding a healthy new way to make these gluten free snacks so I could get these marvellous flavours mingling on my tongue!
I think you’ll really love this dish. The rosemary chili cornbread is dense, savoury and moreish. Every time you make it, it’s highly likely it’ll be polished off in one day. You can cut the bread any way you want. I particularly love to cut it into little canapé sized rectangles that beg to be topped with yumminess. The bread holds it’s structure nicely and doesn’t crumble under the weight of toppings, which other gluten free snacks have a tendency to do.
While many toppings will go beautifully with this cornbread, the ultimate for me is juicy tomatoes cut into teeny pieces and swimming in their own juices along with garlic, olive oil and basil. Spoon it liberally overtop of the quick bread. The juice immediately soaks into the bread and the flavour that results is just wow!
Healthy Tomato Bruschetta - Rosemary Chili Cornbread Base
Ingredients
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup chickpeas
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1 egg add 2 Tbsp additional chia seeds + ¼ cup water if omitting egg
- 1 Tbsp rosemary
- 2 tsp pink salt
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp chili powder
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 390F (200C)
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Add everything into a blender and blend on high for about 15 seconds
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Pour the batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet
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Cook for 22-25 minutes. When browned take out of oven and let cool
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Once cool, cut into rectangles the size of typical bruschetta (roughly 3 inches by 2 inches / 7.5 cm x 5 cm)
Recipe Notes
I have included two versions above: One that is vegan and one that includes an egg. The version with the egg is more dense and suitable to handheld eating. The version without the egg tastes virtually identical but is slightly less dense and my testers felt it works better when eaten off a plate.
Healthy Tomato Bruschetta - The Topping
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic sliced thinly (not minced)
- Small handful basil chopped coarsely
- 2 cups tomatoes cut into tiny pieces
- Season liberally with pink salt and coarse black pepper
Instructions
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In a small bowl, whisk the first 4 ingredients together with a fork
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Add the tomatoes and stir with a spoon to coat them evenly in the dressing
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Spoon the tomato topping overtop of your cornbread and liberally add the juices to allow them to soak into the bread
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Enjoy!
This is not a recipe that you need to wait for a special occasion to make. I love putting toppings on things because it’s fun and it looks pretty (those are important criteria!) Because the bread batter only takes 5 to 10 minutes to just whizz up in the blender, you can pour it onto a baking sheet before you begin making any meal, and you’ll have an amazing addition for whatever you are making by the time the rest of your meal is done. I find this dense little quick bread is a great addition to your hglutent free snacks toolkit.
Let me know in the comments below what you think about this, and also what other gluten free snacks you enjoy adding into your week!
Yum! This looks SO delicious! Bruschetta was always a favorite appetizer of mine when ordering out to eat, however it seems no restaurant offers the gluten free bread with it of course. Need to put this on my list to try! Thanks 🙂