Food trends come and go, but “stuff on toast” is forever. Even in its purest form, golden-brown crisp bread — smeared with nothing more than some butter and sprinkled with salt — is a luxurious, timeless treat. But “toast is good!” is not news.
Dinner toast, though, should be. It is quite possibly the perfect summer food. Compared with other carby delights, toast is undeniably lighter than a sandwich and requires significantly less time to make than pasta (both important for summer food consumption). It has crunchy texture for days, and you can effortlessly eat it with one hand (neither can be said for most sandwiches or pasta).
Avocado is clearly the most famous topping in the toast community (yes, we are somehow still talking about avocado toast), but it is the hyper seasonal, very juicy, almost-too-ripe-to-slice tomato that deserves to be first in line as a topping for dinner toast.
Tomatoes truly have it all: mild sweetness, pronounced acidity and, when sliced, a saucy texture that complements the toast by sinking into the tender parts and gently softening the very crunchy bits. Do I love it because this combination reminds me of pizza? Maybe.
Stopping at tomatoes might suggest breakfast or a very petite lunch, and we are shooting for dinner, so let’s add more. Topping that perfect tomato toast with something like shrimp — cooked in a skillet with slivers of toasted garlic and a bit of white wine — would be my move, because I am forever seeking ways to eat more of my favorite summer foods (shrimp scampi and pan con tomate) at the same time.
Since I’m using a skillet and because I keep my toaster in a cabinet, it makes sense for me to make the toast in the skillet, too (preshrimp, of course). Even if your toaster lives on the countertop, I recommend this, because bread, when toasted in a skillet full of olive oil, becomes shatteringly crisp and evenly golden brown in a way your toaster could never.
After I’ve crowned the perfectly toasted bread with the garlicky shrimp and ruby red tomatoes, I pour the buttery white wine sauce over the whole thing. Honestly, I can’t think of anything I’d rather have dressing my tomatoes or soaking into my toast, mostly because of the way it sinks into the bread, reminding me of the custardy center in a pan of stuffing.
Since this is dinner toast, you can pick it up with one hand or tackle it with a knife and fork for a more civilized eating experience. Either way, it’s toast. And toast is good.
