Gourmet Toasts

It’s been one of those days: work was long and your boss was grouchy, you have two exams this week you’ve been dreading, and you have spent a total of 12 hours on campus. Now you’re home, STARVING, but have to make dinner. UGH. “I wish I could just make myself a piece of toast,” you say to yourself. But you’re tired of the same old butter toast, and you know you need something filling and nutritious, and fast!

But wait!!! Could your dream be a possibility? Could there be a way to turn your regular toasted bread to be a masterpiece of a meal?!

YES and you’ve come to the right place.

A three-course meal! That takes five minutes! And it’s toast!! No fancy equipment needed. This recipe consists of four fresh and gourmet toasts, developed by Lori at the Kitchen Whisper, that will have your mouth exploding with unique flavors. A loaded toast with fruits, veggies, good carbohydrates and proteins, for every course of your meal: appetizer, main dish, and dessert. Your toast craving will be satisfied and your body will be happily fueled with this hearty goodness in no time.

We know, being college students ourselves, what it’s like to have the “hanger monster” roaming around your mind and needing a fast and cheap meal. Toast is not a bad option! We want to take it to the next level! Choose whatever bread you so desire. Because of allergies, we are making it with gluten-free bread, but whole wheat, Asiago cheese, focaccia, or whatever bread you choose would be exceptional too! These recipes are adapted from The Kitchen Whisperer website, and will change the course of your college-student toast life. We are changing the future of toast. You will never go back to PB and J.

Cost Breakdown

Berry Toast

Ingredient	Amount	Unit Cost of Ingredient	Recipe Cost of Ingredient
*BFree White Sourdough Loaf (Gluten Free)	14.11 oz	$5.98/16oz bag	$1.39 (per slice) $2.77 (per recipe)
Ricotta cheese	1/4 cup	$2.99/15 oz	$0.40
Honey	2 Tbsp	$3.99/12 oz 1 Tbsp=0.5 oz	$0.33
Vanilla Extract	1/4 tsp	$1.99/2 fl oz 1 fl oz=6 tsp	$0.33
Strawberries	2 whole	$3.49/1 lb	$0.35
Raspberries	8 each	$2.50/6 oz	$0.67
Organic Blueberries	About 10 each	$4.49/6 oz	$0.90
Fresh Mint	2 leaves	$2.49/2Tbsp	$0.31
Handful of chocolate chips	2 Tbsp	$3.00/12 oz 1 Tbsp=0.5 oz	$0.25
TOTAL RECIPE COST			$6.31
COST PER SERVING (1 SERVING)			$3.16

BAE Toast

Ingredient	Amount	Unit Cost of Ingredient	Recipe Cost of Ingredient
Crispy bacon	1.5 pieces	$4.99/12 oz	$0.63
Avocado	1/2 medium	$0.99/avocado	$0.50
Hard boiled eggs	2	$1.79/12 eggs	$0.30
Black pepper	1/4 tsp	dash	—
Kosher salt	1/4 tsp	dash	—
Red pepper flakes	1/4 tsp	dash	—
Honey	1 Tbsp	$3.99/12 oz	$0.17
Sriracha	1 tsp	$3.49/17 oz	$0.03
TOTAL RECIPE COST			$4.40
COST PER SERVING (1 SERVING)			$2.20

Veggie Curl Toast

Ingredient	Amount	Unit Cost of Ingredient	Recipe Cost of Ingredient
Plain hummus	1/4 cup	$3.50/10 oz	$1.40
Nonfat Greek yogurt	3 Tbsp	$6.29/32 oz	$0.29
Zucchini	1 whole	$0.75	$0.75
Carrot	1 whole	$2.49/2 lb	$0.21
Squash	1 whole	$0.85	$0.85
Extra virgin olive oil	drizzle	—	—
Dried dill, kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes	Pinches of each	—	—
TOTAL RECIPE COST			$5.42
COST PER SERVING (1 SERVING)			$2.71

Caprese Toast

Ingredient	Amount	Unit Cost of Ingredient	Recipe Cost of Ingredient
Avocado	1 ea	$0.99	$0.99
Mini mozzarella balls	8 ea	$5.99/8 oz	$3.00
Grape tomatoes	8 each, halved	$2.79/10 oz	$1.12
Olive oil	drizzled	—	—
Basil	1 Tbsp	$3.49/0.5 oz	$3.49
Oregano	1 Tbsp	$1.25/0.63 oz	$1.00
Salt and pepper	1 Tbsp, each	—	—
TOTAL RECIPE COST			$12.37
COST PER SERVING (1 SERVING)			$6.19

Recipe Making Process

Okay, you’ve got your grocery list… Where to next? Where’s the best place to shop? What’s great is you are a student in college, so there are resources for you! If you are attending Utah State University you have access to the SNAC food pantry which can get you a bag of food free each week, no questions asked. The hard part is you do not always have control over what they give you. But many times there is a good loaf of bread, and if it is in season, you can get some good veggies. If not, the next best option is a relatively inexpensive grocery store near you. We shopped at Smith’s for quality and price, however Walmart and WinCo are also good options.

Zucchini and squash and tomatoes and berries are great and easy to find during the summer and early fall months, but what about those long winter months? Try substituting berries for orange slices or pomegranate seeds. There are canned tomatoes that can be substituted for fresh and as for the squash, look for local winter squash that may be available to you!

To help reduce the cost of the gourmet toasts, we chose toasts with similar ingredients. This way, we can make varying meals throughout the week while using as much of the same ingredients to save money. One example of this is with our Caprese and BAE toast options. They are both avocado based toasts, but all of the ingredients differ. They have very different flavors but by using avocados for multiple toasts we can save money on other ingredients. Another way we worked to reduce the cost was taking advantage of the SNAC pantry when possible. They offer breads and fresh produce that can be used in our toast recipes.

The preparation process may feel the most time consuming, but is essential for an organized and successful cooking outcome. Luckily for you, the mise en place (aka preparation process) of these gourmet toast recipes are simply gathering of the ingredients and cooking tools. For these recipes that means gathering fruits and vegetables, a pot for boiling an egg, as well as cutting boards and knives. Once these items are all called for, the fun begins!

These recipes were so fun and easy to put together. Most of the procedures are pretty self explanatory, just compiling all the ingredients and spreading it out on the toast. The basic skills you need are putting the toast in the toaster, boiling an egg, and correctly measuring out your ingredients. Piece of cake! Or should we say piece of toast!;)

Here are a few cooking tips that might help if you’re a little stuck…

To boil the eggs, in a medium saucepan, add just enough water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil, then set a timer for 10-12 minutes. This will ensure that the yolks are done in the middle. Then, carefully place the boiled eggs in a bowl of ice cold water. This will make them easier to peel and will help them set correctly without turning a pale green color around the yolk.

The Veggie Toast requires veggie curls, which we had never done before, but was a lot easier than it sounds! Start off by filling a bowl with ice water. Wash your vegetables as usual and peel the skin off just the carrot. Then, use your peeler and repeatedly peel one area of the vegetable to get thin strips. They should naturally curl on their own! You can help them curl by rolling them up and sticking them in the water like so….

Super easy and looks super cool, right?! We found that the strips peeled from about 1⁄3 into the width of the vegetable were the best looking. Once you’re ready to use the curls, just dry them off with a paper towel, and boom! Perfection!

Reflection of the Process

These toasts turned out great! They were delicious, full of flavor, and looked beautiful. Another thing that we loved about these toasts was that they were very filling and full of nutrition while still being so easy to prepare and easy to find the ingredients.

Keep it budget friendly. If there is an ingredient that is over the top of your budget, find a quick substitute. The options are truly endless when it comes to making this toast. It does not have to come from all one recipe. Also remember, spices and bigger containers will make more than one piece of toast; don’t be too afraid to invest, and whatever you don’t use, great for snacking!

Presentation is HUGE with these toasts. If it looks good, you’ve already won. Here are a few tricks to ensure mouth watering upon looking at, and consuming, your lovely toasts:

1. Put a thick layer of your base spread on your toast. No one wants dry toast. This will help it be hearty and enhance the look of all ingredients on top.
2. Balance colors! Make the most of the fresh ingredients by spreading out the diverse colors
3. Pile up that toast, baby! Your toast should be overflowing with your scrumptious ingredients.
4. Don’t be afraid to add those spices. Some of them might be new to you but they add such a good flavor! Especially if you are using all the ingredients, you’re going to want a good amount of spice.
5. SERVE IMMEDIATELY. No one likes to bite into a rock instead of toasted bread.

Here are some photos to use as guidelines for how you can top the toasts. This recipe is so fun because it allows you to be CREATIVE. Change it up! Add your own pazazz! Let us know how it goes in the comments!