Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. I’m taking this morning slow with a great cup of coffee and breakfast. I was born with a very special talent where I can fall back asleep in the morning no matter how many hours I’ve slept – and I almost did that when the alarm rang at 6:30. But I didn’t! And now I have a blog post today.

This is a little bit of a non-recipe recipe, but it was so bright and summery, I had to share.

I love that it shows off the best of the season. The earliest tomatoes are appearing in farmers markets. My little basil plants are just big enough that I don’t feel bad stealing a few leaves for my toast topping. And those strawberries are the very first from my backyard patch. I love putting it all together in one fresh, sweet bite.

I also think it’s important to remember to properly season food – even fruit! A little best quality olive oil, salt and pepper can keep a dish full of fruit and cheese from being too cloying, and can really bring the flavors together. That’s definitely true here – without a little touch of savoriness I think this toast might lean a little to far into dessert land.

And I’ve got cherry hand pies for dessert, so clearly, I need to make a distinction 🙂

Ingredients

Here’s what you need for two toasts:
2 thick slabs of rustic bread (you’ll be eating this with a fork and knife)
Neufchatel cheese (anywhere from 2-4 Tbsp., depending on your preference)
Sliced heirloom tomato
6-8 cherries, pitted and halved
2-3 strawberries, roughly chopped
3-4 small basil leaves, chiffonaded
Best quality olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Very lightly toast the bread – and add the cream cheese to each slab. Place the bread back inside the toaster oven to warm the cheese up.

Top with the tomato slices, cherries, strawberries and basil. Drizzle with best quality olive oil and salt and pepper liberally.