Texas toast bruschetta

• frozen garlic toast Texas style
• fresh tomatoes
• fresh basil
• Balsamic vinegar

Prepare toast according to package instructions. Dice tomatoes and basil finely and blend together, taking care not to over mix. Pile tomatoes on toast and drizzle with vinegar, serve immediately.

The dish: It's pretty scary to look in someones eyes and see pure hate. It's even scarier when that person is a friend you've known most of your life; scarier still when the occasion is his wedding. Yet this happened a few weeks back, and I feel nothing but proud of my comrade. You see, the good friend is a surgeon who specializes in oncology, practicing at the prestigious Fox Chase Cancer Center. I've never seen him as happy as when he was standing next to his beautiful wife, yet when the conversation turned to work he spoke with great admiration for the doctors who have taught him, compassion for the patients he's helped, and disdain for the ugly pile of cells he pulls out of the folks on the operating table beneath him. Having lost his father at a young age to cancer he has his reasons to dislike the disease, but has channeled it using his knowledge and dedication in a way that inspires awe. Like all great doctors, I'm amazed by them and yet hope to never have the occasion to be their patient. Doing things like not smoking and using sunscreen are obvious ways to keep cancer at bay, but there's much more we can do. Eating tomatoes gives our bodies lycopene, which some studies have shown will slow the growth of certain types of cancer. I can't think of a better way to get my dose of lycopene than the festival of tomatoes that is bruschetta. I would have used fresh bread but this batch was made at the last minute using some of my sister's bumper crop (you have a green thumb- you're adopted) and we had some Hannaford garlic toast Texas style on hand. It was delicious and our bodies were better off for the offering.