What's for Dinner?

What do you do when your neighbor brings you a bowl full of fresh cherry tomatoes from his garden, your basil is just screaming to be cut, and you have some Italian bread in the freezer that needs to be consumed? Oh, yeah, did I mention your grill is broken and it's hot and you don't feel like cooking? And your kids are just going to eat leftover baked ziti anyway? Make some Panzanella!

I meant to take a picture of this yummy salad before I served it, but when I took it out of the fridge and tossed it, and grabbed a forkful to check the seasonings, and Augie did the same, we just couldn't stop eating it! Half the bowl was gone before we paused to actually dish it into individual bowls! So all you get is a shot of all the yummy ingredients before I added the bread. But there's a shot of it here, where I found the recipe. You HAVE to use home-grown tomatoes for this, or at least get some sweet grape tomatoes. Those anemic grocery-store variety would just be wrong! Next time I'm going to add some sweet peppers, as well. I've also seen recipes that call for olives or capers, but I'm not going there! :)


Panzanella

Tuscans hate to waste a scrap of bread. Panzanella, a bread salad that combines vine-ripened tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and basil with olive oil and vinegar, is one solution for transforming day-old bread into a delicious summer meal. For best results, use chewy, coarse-textured bread.

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces

1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more
as needed

3 Tbs. balsamic or red wine vinegar, plus more
as needed

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

6 to 8 thick slices country-style white bread, torn
into bite-size pieces

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion and basil. Drizzle with the 1/2 cup olive oil and the 3 Tbs. vinegar, season with salt and pepper and toss well.

Place half of the bread in a wide, shallow bowl. Spoon half of the tomato mixture over the bread. Layer the remaining bread on top and then the remaining tomato mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Just before serving, toss the salad and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. If the bread seems dry, add a little oil or vinegar. Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.