Sometimes you need a side dish that will impress your guest but you don't have the time or the budget for something fancy. Well now you can make a side dish that will impress in only a few minutes and cheap!

Step 1: Ingredients

The key to a spectacular bruschetta is fresh ingredients!

5 large tomatoes - diced
2 cloves garlic - crushed
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (adjust to your taste)
1 Tbsp sundried tomatoes - chopped (optional)
1/2 C. fresh basil - chopped
salt
pepper
baguette

If you have fresh tomatoes from a garden, use them! It will make a huge difference! You may have to use more tomatoes if your garden was like mine and you got smaller tomatoes.

If you don't have fresh garlic, you can cheat and use garlic powder.

The basil is one ingredient you CANNOT cheat on. Dried basil will not give you the final product you want. Fresh basil is the only way to go!

Step 2: Combine

Dice up your tomatoes. The size is up to you. We like the pieces to be about the size of a dime.

Place your diced tomatoes in a large bowl. You want a larger bowl to allow mixing without making a mess (We learned this the hard way.)

Crush your garlic into the bowl with the tomatoes.

Chop the basil. Take the leaves and stack them together. Roll them up into a tube and chop.

Add the olive oil.

Add the balsamic vinegar. Some people like more or less of the vinegar. Start with a small amount and taste. Adjust the amount of balsamic vinegar as needed.

Add salt and pepper, adjust while tasting!

Mix well!

Step 3: Serve

The bruschetta will taste better if you allow it to chill and rest before serving. However this is not required if you don't have time. We usually put ours in the fridge for an hour or so.

A few minutes before serving, get the bread ready. Slice the baguette and place on a cooking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the bread. Optionally, sprinkle some parmesan or mozzarella cheese. Place in the oven with the broil setting on high. WATCH CAREFULLY AND DO NOT LEAVE THE BREAD WHILE COOKING! It is very easy to forget about the bread and burn them.

Serve the bruschetta in a bowl and the bread on a platter. Allow your guests to serve themselves.

Enjoy!