FANCY TOASTS

Makes about 20 toasts

WE ARE LIVING IN the peak toast era, if you believe the food magazines, but the truth is that toast has always been one of my favorite foods. When I was a kid, I liked lightly toasted Pepperidge Farm white bread buttered edge to edge and showered with cinnamon sugar. I still like that, but I have also developed an appreciation for salty, oil-slicked pieces of toasted baguette onto which I pile all sorts of delicious things, from canned sardines to mashed hard-boiled eggs and sliced avocado.

Really, you can put anything you want on top of toast, but these are my favorite vegetarian combinations. If you make all three, you’ll have an especially beautiful assortment.

FOR THE TOASTS:

1 baguette, cut diagonally into ⅓-inch-thick slices

Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, peeled

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the slices of baguette on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. With a pastry brush, brush each toast on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven and bake until crisp but not brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Rub the garlic over the surface of each toast once. Let cool. Toasts are best the same day they’re made.