Tomato toast recipe by Los Angeles food photographer Sarah Ehlinger: sourdough bread layered with red pepper hummus, tomato salad, feta, micro greens and garlic chive flowers.

I’ve been resisting becoming a “food blogger” for a very long time. (We’re talking at least 5 years.) I’ve always been more interested in the photography side of things. Or so I thought. My brain deceived me into thinking I’m just not that good at the recipe part. But that, my friend, isn’t true.

I rarely follow recipes to a tee when I’m cooking, and quite frequently have an idea of what I want to cook, glance through 2-3 recipes, use them as a base, but just go off in my own direction. (yeah, that’s called making up your own recipe.) I’m bringing all this up because I was chatting with a friend and former colleague the other day and we were discussing how we approach our work creatively.

She dreams up recipes all day long (her creative sweet spot) and I dream about settings/scenes, props and how I want things to look- the recipe part not ranking high on my list. That’s why I almost always start with other recipes and then add my own flair or twist to them.

Because I generally have a vision of the story I want to create long before I’ve developed a cohesive recipe, I was discrediting my ability to create them. But who cares what order it comes in, right?

Is my friend better at creating recipes? 1000% yes. Am I better at creating images? 1000% yes. Is either of us wrong in our approach? Absolutely not. We’ll each continue to flourish in our sweet spots while growing in the areas we want to improve.

I urge you to take a look at the areas in your life where you’re discrediting yourself. Places where you’re building muscle (even if it’s a baby muscle), but playing it off or selling yourself short. Pick one area and share it in the comments below right now so I can root you on and celebrate you!

And now… tomato toast. Why tomato toast on a post about creativity? Because it’s the perfect example of how my creative process works. The only reason this recipe came about was because I found some volunteer garlic chive flowers in my yard. I wanted so badly to use them in a photo, but also knew I didn’t have enough to make a recipe solely out of them.

I had a vision of delicate white blooms sprinkled across the vibrantly colored tomatoes. And I thought about all the gorgeous and creative versions of avocado toast that are strewn across Pinterest and Instagram. from there, tomato toast (or at least my version of it) was born.

Enjoy!

heirloom tomato toast

serves 4 | prep time: 10 min | total time: 20 min

ingredients

2 1/2- 3 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved or quarted
3 1/2 tbls olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced or diced
feta cheese (omit if vegan)
micro greens
salt and pepper
loaf of sourdough bread
roasted pepper hummus (or other flavored variety of your choice)
chive flowers (optional)

directions

create the tomato salad: Combine tomatoes, olive oil, garlic in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

create the toast: Spread slices of sourdough bread with hummus. Layer tomato salad, feta (if using), and micro greens on top. Sprinkle with chive flowers (if available and/or in season).