Panzanella (Bread Salad)

I wanted to fix myself a sandwich this afternoon when I noticed that the baguette I was going to use had gone incredibly stale and hard. Most of the food I cook in my kitchen tends to be a way for me to use or salvage ingredients I already have. What better way to save this once delicious garlicky baguette than to toast it into croutons and make a salad with it?


I started by cutting the bread into one inch cubes.


Then I slid them into a bowl and tossed them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I heated my cast iron skillet and toasted the bread until the cubes were golden brown.


In a separate bowl, I assembled the dressing: dijon mustard, one clove of minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. The recipe called for champagne vinegar, but it's really just schmansy white wine vinegar (which is a lot easier to come by), so I used three tablespoons of that instead.

The rest of the salad can be more or less vegetables of your choice. You can stay with the staples: tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, and red onion. I wanted the salad to be really colorful, so I used some beautiful vine cherry tomatoes:


Some adorable mixed baby bell peppers of different colors:


I also used a hot house cucumber, otherwise referred to as European cucumbers. I like them because you can leave the skin on, they're less bitter, and they have very few seeds. I also added some chopped basil. Add your vegetables to the toasted croutons, top with dressing and mix it. Difficult as it may be to wait before diving in, this salad is best enjoyed if you set it aside and let the dressing soak a bit into the croutons. This is especially essential if you started with really stale bread. The ingredients meld, and the flavors become a lot bolder.


I love this salad. As I was mixing it I literally gasped out loud because the colors were so beautiful. The basil adds a delightful freshness to the vegetables, but it's very difficult to not pick out and eat all the croutons. They get infused with a wonderful aroma and the crispiness mixed with the dressing is very satisfying.

I based my recipe on Ina Garten's Panzanella Recipe. As I stated earlier in this post, I substituted white wine vinegar for champagne vinegar. It's just easier to acquire.