Panzanella Salad- LeMoine Family Kitchen
By: Angela LeMoine
Published: Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - 6:16pm

Ingredients




1 loaf of ciabatta or baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes
1-2 english cucumbers, sliced
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup red wine vinegar
⅓ cup olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp oregano
salt & pepper

Preparation

1 Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 2 Place the cubed bread onto a lined baking sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes {will vary depending on the freshness of the bread} until golden and dried out. Allow to cool. 3 In a jar mix together the red wine vinegar, olive oil, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. 4 In a large bowl toss together the toasted bread, red onion, cucumber and tomatoes. 5 Shake up the vinaigrette really well and pour enough of the dressing to coat and to your liking. {if you want it crisper then add less or if you prefer it a little wetter then add more of the vinaigrette} 6 Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

About

Have you ever had Panzanella Salad? I have to be honest, when I first heard of this bread based salad, I thought… weird! Then I gave it a try and I immediately fell in love with this healthy and delicious salad! The colors alone make me want to dive right in.Plus, its also a great way to use up leftover loaves of bread because I really despise waste.
Ready for how simple this is… toasted up chunks of bread tossed with cucumber, tomato, red onion and a very basic red wine vinaigrette. The bread soaks up enough of the vinaigrette to make it slightly softened and so flavorful! The bright colors and flavors of the tomato, cucumber and red onion bring it all to life that much more. This is a wonderful salad and makes for a refreshing side dish to everything from grilled/roast chicken, pork cutlets, steak and grilled seafood.