I always think it is funny when I see other food bloggers apologizing for posting a really easy recipe that doesn’t require a ton of cooking and might not technically be considered a “recipe”.
Fast and easy recipes that require little to no cooking are some of my favorites and I’m always looking for more ideas like that. As much as I love to cook, sometimes the less I have to cook the happier I am, especially after a long day at work. I also feel like the point of a food blog doesn’t always need to be cooking complicated recipes. I think, at least I hope, that the point of a food blog is also to give people ideas. Ideas about foods they may have never tried before or ideas of ways to cook or present foods in new ways. Or maybe even just to present a recipe that makes someone’s mouth water so much they just have to try it!
I know that this isn’t a super complicated recipe and I also know that I’m not the first one to come up with the idea of herbed goat cheese and balsamic roasted peppers, but I’m pretty excited to share this recipe with you today and I’m not going to apologize for it! Have you seen these mini peppers at the grocery store?! I’m pretty obsessed with all things tiny and food is no exception! I’ve been known to buy baby vegetables just because I think they are adorable, which is exactly what I did with these baby eggplants! I don’t even cook with eggplant very often, but I just had to have these!
Now back to these cute little peppers! I’ve been eyeing these little sweet peppers in the grocery store for some time now and I’ve gone over about 100 recipes in my head, but I finally decided that the perfect use for them would be this simple toast recipe. Since I’m a huge lover of vinegar, I decided to thinly slice the peppers and roast them with balsamic vinegar, because you really can’t go wrong when you roast something with balsamic!
You also really can’t go wrong when you slather goat cheese all over toasted bread, especially when that goat cheese is packed with delicious tasting fresh herbs! Fresh herbs are something that I really want to start growing more of in my garden because I always seem to buy a few for a recipe and then sometimes the leftovers go to waste. They can also be quite expensive for a tiny package of them. Unfortunately, at this time, the only herb that I grew for this goat cheese dip was the basil, but I am still very proud of that š Today has been a long and exhausting day at work, so instead of ramble on and on at you I’m going to go to bed and hopefully have pleasant dreams of miniature vegetables dancing around together.
Herbed Goat Cheese Toasts with Balsamic Roasted Sweet Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 loaf of your favorite bread, gluten free or regular
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 16 ounce bag of mini sweet peppers
- 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- salt
- olive oil for drizzling on bread
Herbed Goat Cheese:
- 5 ounces goat cheese, softened at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon chives, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon dill, chopped
- 1 tablespoon basil, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add all of the herbed goat cheese ingredients and mix together. Set aside.
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cut the bread into slices and drizzle with olive oil. Place the slices onto a large baking sheet and place in the oven for about 10 – 15 minutes, flipping once. After bread is toasted, rub one side with the raw clove of garlic.
- Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Wash the peppers and cut them into thin slices. On a large baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, add the pepper slices, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Toss to coat and place into the oven. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until peppers are soft and caramelized.
- Spread about 1 tablespoon of herbed goat cheese spread onto each slice of bread and top with balsamic roasted peppers.
- Category: Appetizer, Gluten Free
As you can see, Cheeto has also had a very long and exhausting day that I am sure was filled with lots of bird watching, eating, and napping!
Ahhh!! Your baby eggplants and peppers! Could they GET any more adorbs?? This toast looks totally insane, Izzy! Pretty much all my fav things in the world piled on one piece of toast. Now I just gotta get my hands on some goat cheese and I think I’ll be good to go! Pinned. š
Aren’t baby veggies just the cutest things ever?!! Thank you, Sarah! All my favorite things too!! Go get you some goat cheese! I hope you and your family had an awesome 4th! š
I love the flavors on these toasts, and I completely agree that simple should not be stigmatized. In fact I feel people are more willing to try our recipes when they are simple. And I think it’s more difficult to get simple just right while it’s easier to over-complicate things.
Thank you Katie! I totally agree! Besides us food bloggers who read each others blogs, I feel like most food blog readers really just want quick, easy, and delicious recipes! It is very easy to over-complicate things! So glad you love these toasts š
I love your picture of Cheeto today! (as always, but today especially)
I totally totally totally agree with your food-blogging philosophy about giving people ideas. I’m never going to apologize for posting something simple for exactly this reason.
I love these little toasts! They’re colourful, healthy and super tasty with all those lovely fresh herbs on. š
Thank you Helen! Usually he is too fast to get a good picture of, but this time I was in the right place at the right time! I’m so glad you agree! I love learning complicated dishes, but I also really just love having some simple, yet delicious, recipes on hand for when I’ve had a long day. So happy you love these toasts, Helen! š
This is absolutely gorgeous!! I love goat cheese and peppers and these toasts look so healthful! Plus they look like they’re lots of fun to put together! Beautiful as always, my dear!! Happy 4th!!
Thank you so much, Julia!! They really are fun to put together and even more fun to eat! In my book, anything with goat cheese is a win! Happy 4th to you too š
This made me laugh. I have a blog post going up that’s almost so easy I wasn’t sure if I should post it. But I love easy recipes too!
The peppers look so pretty in this dish. You really can’t go wrong with the goat cheese either!
It seems like everyone loves easy recipes, so, I say, bring them on!! I agree, you can never go wrong with goat cheese!
Izzy, you are so right! I have avoided posting several recipes as I deem them too simple or too… obvious! You have inspired me to change my ways š These look so delicious!
Thank you, Emma! You should definitely post them!! I am always looking for simple and quick dishes to add to the mix and it seems like everyone is too! I can’t wait to see what your recipes š
With summer upon us and a little one underfoot, I’m always looking for fresh, easy, and simple recipes. These toasts look beautiful. Can’t wait to try them!
I can’t imagine how hard it is to get things done, especially cooking, with a little one running around! Sometimes simple and easy is the best! I hope you love these toasts! š
Such beautiful and vibrant colors. Easy appetizers like this one make me happy. š
Thanks Kathy! They make me happy too š
I love simplicity and tiny things š I totally agree every recipe doesn’t need to be complicated to be blog worthy. I am loving these toast with all those beautiful peppers.
Thanks Cindy! Complicated can be fun and interesting, but at the end of the day I just want something easy and delicious! I’m so glad you like these š
I agree I’m all about the quick and easy recipes especially with the two little one’s at home. Everything looks quick, easy, and delicious right up our ally. Thanks.
Hi Tom! Thank you! Quick and easy is right up my ally too! I think I need to work on some more quick recipes because it sounds like that is what most people are looking for these days! I imagine that you especially need easy recipe ideas with two little ones!
I love the colours and the Herbed Goat Cheese recipes looks ah-amzing!
Thank you Olivia! You will love this herbed goat cheese š
I couldn’t agree more! I love simple, no-cook recipes just as much as any other recipe. I don’t always have hours to devote in the kitchen, so I really appreciate them. I’m sold on this with the goat cheese. Love it!
I’m so glad other people love simple and easy too! I need to come up with more easy recipe ideas. I never want to spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen on a weekday and sometimes I also just want to relax on the weekends, so easy recipe ideas are a must! Isn’t goat cheese just the best?! I could eat it on everything š
I have never seen baby eggplants before!! How fun! Don’t you love those little sweet peppers? You can do anything with them! And I made some herbed goat cheese that I have been adding to my wraps, but I love the idea of smearing it on warm toast topped with veggies…YUM!!
Annie! That was the fist time I had ever seen them and they were like ten cents each, so I just had to buy them, haha! I do love these sweet peppers so much! I can’t wait to try out your recipe with them and stuff them, I bet that is amazing! Adding herbed goat cheese to wraps is such a good idea! I think I could eat it on everything!
What a fresh, flavorful idea! These toasts look perfect. And your kitty is so freaking cute. Cheeto is such a perfect name.
Pinning!
Hi Abbie! Thank you so much! My husband picked the name Cheeto and I was a little skeptical at first, but now I wouldn’t have it any other way š Thanks for pinning!
These tasty-looking herbed goat cheese toasts are beautiful – love all the colors! I totally agree on loving quick, healthy meals, especially after a long day at work!
And I cannot wait to get in a more permanent place again to plant some herbs, they are so expensive at the store, often end up going to waste (or at least part of them), and I find that I use them so much more frequently when they are readily available right outside my door.
Great recipe – Happy 4th! š
Hi Kaylee!! Thank you so much! Isn’t it nice when the food not only tastes good but also has beautiful color?! I need to start figuring out more easy and quick meals to cook because I’ve been feeling particularly lazy these days after work, but I still want to eat good food for dinner!
I really need to start growing more herbs than basil. I’ve tried to grow dill a few times, but it never seems to get very big before it dies. I need to figure it out soon because I think I would use them much more if they were right outside my door too! Happy 4th to you too, Kaylee! š
You had me immediately at goat cheese!! haha man I love that stuff : ) These toasts sound amazing – I love simple, easy recipes – especially for weeknights when I’m tired!
And please keep the Cheeto photos coming : ) I love them!
Goat cheese lovers unite! I could eat goat cheese on anything and everything, I’m so glad you love it too! I’m also so glad you love the photos of Cheeto! I’m not sure he loves me taking them all the time, but he is just going to have to live with it š
I agree! Simple rocks and generally makes for the best-tasting results. When I feel like really getting into a big cooking project I usually save that for the weekends, but weekdays it’s all about simplicity. HOW CUTE ARE THOSE EGGPLANT!? OMG I would have died. Tiny food is just too adorable to not purchase. I’ve never seen anything like those. I need to move to Arizona immediately to be 1) close to you, and 2) close to baby eggplants. Beautiful photos and recipe, as always, Izzy! I want to make these immediately!!!
Al! I think I could live off of simple, no cook meals! Either I’m easy to please or lazy, or maybe both š I agree, bring on the fun food projects on the weekends, but give me leftovers on the weekdays! I know! Aren’t they adorable! When I bought them, the guy next to me asked how I was going to prepare them and I pretty much said that I had no idea, but they were cute so I had to buy them! Yes, please do move to Arizona immediately!! We have a grocery store that only sells baby fruits and vegetables! That might be a lie, but I’ll say anything to get you here! š
Gorgeous pictures, Izzy! I’m a huge fan of easy recipes, too, and this one looks amazing! Love the pop of color from the peppers. And the herbed goat cheese sounds delicious!
Thank you so much, Gayle! Easy recipes are the best, I need to start posting more because it seems like other people really enjoy them too! I love it when the food that I’m cooking with is naturally so pretty, it makes my job a lot easier š
I am so into eating ALL THE THINGS on toast lately! It’s the perfect vehicle for all of summer’s veggies. These sound so perfect!
Haha, I am too!! Toast, especially smeared with goat cheese, is totally the perfect vehicle for all things summer! I couldn’t agree more š
These toasts look amazing, Izzy! Loving the colours, so vibrant and beautiful! That herbed goat’s cheese sounds divine with the balsamic peppers!
Thank you Jess!! It is always so nice when the food can not only be tasty, but colorful too!