When I got home from our community garden last week, I was HUNGRY. Like, ready to eat my hand hungry. Like, good-thing-I-forgot-there-was-pizza-in-the-fridge-because-I-would-have-swallowed-it-without-chewing hungry.
And my apartment was still hot, and I still don't have a grill. I needed something fast.
Luckily, fresh garden veggies taste amazing raw, and with a little prep, they can have a real “wow” factor. I mean, they’re already colorful and crispy and fresh, what else do they need?
Olive oil, balsamic, and crusty bread, that’s what.
I made this panzanella salad for a friend’s cookout last year, and it was a crowd pleaser. People love bread in their salad; I love bread in my salad (and that’s coming from someone who has a huge penchant for raw lettuce). It feels like a real compromise when, in fact, I’d rather be eating just bread.
I had some kind-of stale crusty bread from Arthur Ave in the freezer, so I was able to quickly defrost that in the toaster oven. While it became crispy and delicious, I cut up tomatoes, peppers, and cucumber, and threw the large chunks into a mixing bowl.
I cut up the green part of a leek into small pieces and put it in a pan with some olive oil. Once the leeks got olive green and fragrant, I added in some balsamic and let the whole mixture get warm.
Bread out of the oven, chunked, into the mixing bowl.
And then I dumped the leek-balsamic heaven over everything.
Here are some things that would be very appropriate in a panzanella on a day when you’re not chomping at the bit: garlic, basil, salt, pepper, olives, mozzarella. (Onions are usually called for, but leeks were a good substitution for me.)
I ate it without any of the above. For healthiness’ sake, I did dump the whole thing on top of some of the fresh lettuce that I had gotten from the CSA. Because, you know, we’ve gotta do something about the abundance of bread on the plate.
Or not.
Truly, this is a good one to have on file for entertaining, and it makes a great addition to a picnic, too!
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