Tomato, Salami and Chunky Arugula-Basil Pesto Bruschetta.

SO.

A littler shorter than usual post today. I am in LA, and well, trying to keep up with my younger brother Kai, his friend and my cousin Abby is almost beyond my reach.

FYI, the whole LA cloudy skies and 60 degree weather thing is SO not cool. Come on, I have been dreaming about the warm sun and 80 degree temps that southern Cali is known for? I am telling you, I bring the clouds and cold temps with me. UGH. Oh, well, I guess it’s better than snow. My mom said it snowed the entire weekend back at home!

The good news is that I think I have got my brother excited about going to school in LA, which clearly I am excited about because that means visits!! Yes! Hopefully the weather will include sunny skies for the next visit though.

So on Friday we visited FIDM, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Not exactly a school that my brother would be first to consider, but the school has grown way beyond simply fashion and design. I love the internships they offer and their progressive ways of teaching. I think I have mentioned before that my brother Kai (Malachi) is a snowboard filmer, but he would like to get a business degree. If he were to attend FIDM, he could combine both of these interests by getting an AA in Digital Media and a Bachelors of Science in Business. It also doesn’t hurt that 90% of the student population are women.

My excitement and knowledge on FIDM comes from personal experience. Before I started this blog I was all set to start at FIDM. Knowing the type of person that I am, I headed out to LA as soon as I graduated from Colorado Mountain College, got an apartment and a job and began living the LA life to make sure it was for me, before committing to two more years of school there. The job worked out well, and I had a nice little apartment, but after a few months of living in LA I didn’t feel ready to commit. Looking back I think it was just too much different too soon. But I am super excited that this may be where Kai soon calls home.

So anyway.

I really want to tell you about this pretty as ever arugula-basil pesto bruschetta.

This bruschetta is so prefect for summertime entertaining. It’s a great use of farmer’s ingredients and so fresh, easy and delicious.

Plus, umm that arugula pesto with those perfectly sweet tomatoes – perfection. If I could add in an emoji with two thumbs up, this would be the place.

For the pesto, I kept everything really simple by just leaving it a chunky pesto. This way all you need to do is chop and add everything a to a bowl.

I don’t know about you guys, but to me, breaking out the food processor or blender just to make some pesto is a pretty daunting task. I honestly despise cleaning my food processor. Just way too many parts.

I love the mix of spicy arugula and basil. Plus, I used cashews in the pesto in place of traditional pine nuts for a little change-up.

Love it.

The rest is really simple.

Some salami, which you can of course leave off if you are a vegetarian, but I personally love the flavor it adds. Especially with the combo of the pesto and tomatoes.

I also added some buffalo mozzarella for a little bit of cheesyness, because you know I cannot make a meal/snack/appetizer or whatever you want to call these without a little cheese.

Cheese makes all things better but especially carby things.

Oh, and I sprinkled in just a few kernels of fresh corn.

Clearly, it is early for corn, but surprisingly, my grocery store has had it in for a few weeks now and it’s actually pretty good, so why not go for it.

With Memorial Day being this weekend, I figure today was a pretty good time to share this quick app with you guys.

It’s definitely going to be a staple me for me this summer.

But can we all agree this is some seriously good Monday food? I think so.