My friend Steve is an excellent photographer and offered to come try out some food photography with me. We discovered it’s a lot more complicated than it looks, between garnish, cutlery placement, layering of textures, lighting, other accessories…the list is endless!
photo by Steve Coutts
I cooked a few simple dishes to experiment with. This is the first dish we shot, which I think turned out pretty well and it was delicious! I modified this recipe from Simply Organic: A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonal and Local Ingredients. It called for mustard greens but I used swiss chard because I had lots on-hand. I think any greens that sauté well would work.
Stephanie over at Clockwork Lemon, our friend Rachele, and I had had a baking date a few days earlier where we made this Whole-Wheat and Rye Swirl Loaf. I cut a bunch of slices into triangles, drizzled with grapeseed oil and toasted them in the oven. The hint of caraway every few bites added another touch of deliciousness too!
White Bean and Oregano Bruschetta on Sautéed Swiss Chard
2 Tbsps olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups thickly sliced greens (swiss chard, mustard, kale)
2 Tbsps balsamic vinegar
1/2 red onion, minced
1 cup cooked white beans
2 tsps oregano, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth (I used 1/4 of a bouillon cube)
salt and pepper, to taste
6-12 Crackers or toasted bread slices
In a large pan, sauté the greens in olive oil until wilted. Add in half the garlic and stir once. Season well with salt and pepper. Remove from pan into a bowl and drizzle balsamic vinegar in.
In the same pan, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the beans, oregano and broth/bouillon. Simmer until liquid has evaporated then add remaining garlic. Turn off heat and mash the bean mixture with a fork until desired texture is reached. (I made mine fairly smooth with a few whole beans left.) Season well with salt and pepper.
Place the greens on crackers or bread first, then arrange a tablespoon or so of the bean mixture on top. Garnish with a thin slice of raw red onion.
Serves 6.
photo by Steve Coutts
food with presence 
Beautiful photos!
I love the idea of using beans for a bruschetta, god I love little appetizer type dishes. Looks great 🙂 We’ll have to have another baking date soon
Nice! Swiss Chard on anything is delicious, except maybe chocolate cake…I can’t wait until we both have fancy cameras and will take nice photos! Ha, ha, ha.
Where did you take your lessons on food photography?
I didn’t! This was taken by a photographer friend of mine. For my shots, I’ve analyzed tons of other people’s photography paying attention to angle, content included in frame, etc. 🙂
I usually use Oregano leaves in any dish and pasta that i bake but it is good to know that Oregano is also rich in vitamins and minerals.:
Look out for our very own webpage as well
http://www.foodsupplementdigest.com/questions-and-answers-regarding-melatonin/