Panzanella Salad

Too many tomatoes? Never! But if you have had one too many tomato sandwiches, try tearing up that bread and tossing it in a hot pan with olive oil and salt. While that’s toasting up, chop up some tomatoes and veggies and shake up a quick dressing of red wine vinegar, mustard and capers. Combine it all and let that bread soak up all that tomato-ey goodness! You’ll be very happy you did!

Bread cubes:

2 cups of diced stale bread

¼ tsp salt

2 T olive oil

Saute bread in the olive oil in a medium sized pan over medium heat to brown up the cubes, take off heat and sprinkle with salt.

Salad:

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped

¼ cup diced red onion

1 yellow, red or orange pepper, chopped

4 T fresh basil, torn

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and add in the sauteed bread cubes.

Dressing:

1 clove minced garlic

1 T. Dijon mustard

⅔ cup Red wine vinegar

 ⅓ cup Olive oil

2 T. Capers

Shake in a jam jar or whisk together in a mixing bowl and pour over the salad and bread cubes. The salad is best when it has sat for about half an hour at room temperature for the juices to soak into the bread.

Some other suggestions:

~Add in your favorite olives

~Add a can of chick peas

~Serve over a piece of grilled chicken