Grilled bread may not sound worthy of a blog post, but trust me on this one. It’s a perfectly crispy, smoky, crouton-y piece of goodness. You don’t even need to start with the most amazing loaf of bread for this first “recipe.”

The peaches at the farmer’s market a few weeks ago were simply irresistible. We picked up a few and decided that grilled peaches had to be on the menu. While I was tempted to simply grill them up and stuff them with ricotta cheese and drizzle them with honey (hello!!), I managed to resist the urge. Instead, we skewered ’em up in between chunks of bread and “chicken,” drizzled a bit of olive oil, and ground some salt and pepper for a simple and delicious meal.

Last week, we made two dishes out of our Cookbook Club book, Local Flavors. I made Deborah’s slow-cooked, thin-sliced summer squash showered with herbs and Heather whipped up some roasted eggplant and pine nut purée. We served them as appetizers and decided to make some grilled garlic toast to go with them. I started with a really nice rustic bread from the bakery, grilled it for a few minutes on each side, rubbed it with the cut side of a clove of garlic, and drizzled a bit of olive oil on top. Holy moly that was some good garlic toast! Sorry to say there are not many photos, but here are the two recipes from Deborah’s book. They were both a hit!

Roasted Eggplant and Pine Nut Purée – adapted from Local Flavors

Ingredients:

• 1 pound eggplant
• olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1 garlic clove
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon chopped mint
• 2 Tablespoons chopped basil

Method:

1. Preheat the broiler. Peel and slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil, set on a sheet pan, and broil about 6 inches away from the heat until golden, about 12-15 minutes. Turn and brown the other side. When finished, stack the eggplant so that it continues to steam.
2. Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over low heat until golden.
3. Pound the garlic and pine nuts with 1/2 teaspoon of salt until smooth. Coarsely chop the eggplant, combine with the garlic and pine nuts, and then work it all into a rough purée in the food processor (or with a mortar and pestle). Add a little lemon juice to perk up the flavors, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the herbs. Serve with grilled bread.

Slow-Cooked Summer Squash – adapted from Local Flavors

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds summer squash
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup simmering water
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (I subbed in some dried thyme)
• 2 Tablespoons torn basil leaves

Method:

1. Slice the squash 1/4 inch thick.
2. Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Add the squash and cook over medium-low heat, turning the squash every few minutes until it’s tender and translucent, about 20 minutes.
3. Add the water and cook until there is none left. Season with salt and pepper, move to a serving plate, and shower with the herbs. Serve over grilled bread or as a side.

Grilled bread all the way! Enjoy!