Week 1 -Mixed veggie toast with extra virgin olive oil marinated sardines

Light quick dinner! - Mixed veggie toast with extra virgin olive oil marinated sardines

For this first cooking assignment, I wanted to stay simple! I made a mixed veggie toast to serve with my side of protein.

Ingredients:

- 1 ripe avocado

- 1/4 of a cucumber

- 6 cherry tomatoes

- Coriander

- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

- Red wine vinegar

- Salt

- Mixed pepper, lemon skin and garlic

Process:

I started off by setting all my ingredients on the kitchen counter, which is essential to stay organized. I washed the cucumber and the tomatoes, cut the avocado in half and removed the seed. 
Then I moved on and diced all the ingredients on a cutting board, as shown in the photos. I wanted to get similar cubes and I didn't want to get them too big since it would get hard to chew. 
Once the main ingredients were all diced, I combined them in a bowl and added 3 tablespoons of EVOO, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, a pinch of salt and the spice mix. At the end, I used some minced coriander for extra flavor and aroma (the whole kitchen was smelling amazingly!). 

 - Combination of ingredients

After mixing everything evenly, I toasted a slice of whole grain bread and placed some of the veggie mixture on top of it. Served it on a big plate with some EVOO marinated sardines.

Personal comment:
It was a long, rainy day. I just wanted to get home, eat some dinner and go to bed. That's why I didn't want to make a super elaborated recipe. I wanted to stay healthy too, so I came up with this quick and easy idea. Sometimes the simplest things are the best!
It was yummy and I enjoyed tasting all the different flavors. 
After cutting all the ingredients I realized there was a lot of it, so I didn't eat the whole thing that night. I had some leftovers and used them the next day. 
This recipe can be used with other veggies and dressings. I'm a big fan of spicy food so after serving my food, I added some roasted tomatillo salsa and that was the cherry on the cake.
Honestly, you can eat that for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Even for a healthy snack! 
Fresh veggies provide you with many vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber that's good too. Combining them with sardines was a great match and they are rich in omega-3, minerals and protein. EVOO should be the principal oil to use for cooking. Monounsaturated fats are the best, along with the avocado that is always tasty! Bread will be a good intake of complex carbs and since it's whole grain, it has fiber as well. 

Overall, simplicity was a win win!