Tales from the 'Snack Lab' - Garlic Butter Crostinis with Melted Cheese, Shredded Apple and Chives

I am not sure why some days the lunch appetite seems to be all but vacant. Common sense tells me I should have something to eat anyway, even if it is just a 'little something'. I quickly consider a fast trip to Edgar in Hull, but get the bad news on Twitter that the brioche was all scooped up by one client! Not that Marysol's now famous bacon date brioche should have been my lunch - my 'little something', but it may have made a nice finish. The bad news tweet is probably an omen telling me I need to fend for myself.

The fridge is going through a food diet right now, which means I am refusing to buy groceries and I am slowly working my way through the selection of raw ingredients, trying to be as creative as possible with the combinations.

So today out came 14 McIntosh Osgoode Orchards apples, still left from my bushel that I had picked up at the Parkdale Market. I am thinking apple sauce. Lots of apple sauce. I am thinking pie. Probably two pies. Two award-winning apple pies. Neither really constitutes a 'little something' for lunch. I am stuck. Next, out comes a small brick of 'whenever did I buy this?', but still happy mozzarella cheese. Still not committed.

I expand my search and go down into the freezer. Here I find a small bag (well sealed!) of Ace Bakery baguette slices leftover from a recent dinner party. From the pantry I pull out the last vestiges of my locally grown garlic purchased from Jacobson's on Beechwood, of all places.

I am now feeling ready to play and experiment in the 'Snack Lab'. The bread slices get very lightly toasted, slathered with garlic butter and then covered with a small parcel of grated mozzarella cheese. Back under the broiler until they bubble up to a light golden brown.

Meanwhile I peel one of those still crunchy apples and shred it. When the garlicy, cheesed-up crostinis come out of the oven, I garnish them with a sprinkle of shredded apple and a few snips of chives for colour. I go in for the taste. Jackpot! I love the crunch of the bread, the nip of the garlic, the sweet and salty in the goo of the cheese, the bright freshness of the apple. I love the pretty of the chives. It is complex but complementary.

Voila! Today from the 'Snack Lab' I bring you the Garlic Butter Crostini with Melted Cheese, Shredded Apple and Chives!

I am feeling quite pleased with my 'little something' lunch. A possible hors d'œuvre for the upcoming book club Christmas party? I think so!

Deconstructed Salad - Simple and Fresh

Our salad tonight was simple and fresh. Each ingredient stood out on its own.

The purple leaf lettuce came in our Roots and Shoots Farm CSA food basket this week, as did the onions.

The Saint Agur Blue cheese was picked up yesterday from Jacobson's Gourmet Concept on Beechwood Avenue at the corner of Acacia Avenue. Saint Agur is a blue cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk from the village of Beauzac in the Monts du Velay, part of the mountainous Auvergne region of central France. It is so rich, creamy and delicious.

The walnuts were toasted first. They came from California. The walnuts are a source of fibre, iron, phosphorus, as well as a source of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturates, and a good source of magnesium.

The navel oranges were sectioned with the extra attention of completely removing the pith, membrane and skin, leaving sweet, tender, juicy citrus wedges.

Dressing: canola oil, fresh orange juice, Canadian pure light maple syrup, Dijon mustard, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper.

The chocolate mint sprig decorating the plate was picked this afternoon from my walking buddy's garden in the heart of Ottawa.

Simple. Fresh. Delicious.