Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen
This is by far one of our favorite toasts! It's so simple, delicious, and requires minimal ingredients, fuss, or time. We like ours spicy and usually add crushed red pepper or a dash of chili oil if we are feeling wild, but anyway you slice it, it's bound to be a delight.
1 baguette, or a slice or two of a rustic country loaf
1/2 cup diced, English cucumber (remove the seeds if you are not using a seedless variety)
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper or chili oil to taste
1 avocado, halved, pit removed
Toasted and Black sesame seeds
Combine the cucumbers, rice vinegar, sesame oil, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. (We usually eyeball it to taste since we make this so regularly. Just remember a little bit of toasted sesame oil goes a long way.) Stir and allow this mixture to marinate for a few minutes so the flavors can get mingling.
2. Toast your bread. If you are using a baguette, slice it into 4-6" long sections before cutting it lengthwise. The baguette will give you more structure and make a better vehicle for shoveling veggies into your mouth but a good, thickly sliced country loaf will do the trick too.
3. Depending on your avocado's ripeness you can do a few different things here. If it is prime time we usually like to slice and smear so some of those pieces stay intact and can layer across the bread's surface attractively. Too far gone? We go full mash and mix that up with salt and pepper to create a smear. Harder than you'd like? We sometimes will cube it and throw it right in with the cucumbers and toss it all together.
4. Top the avocado with cucumber mix and pile it high. Don't waste a drop of that liquid by drizzling it over the top. Sprinkle generously with sesame seeds for garnish.
Pro Tip: Grab a utensil so you can scoop up any stragglers that topple off of your bread chariot. Trust us, you will want every last bite.