Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad)
This take on Tuscan Bread Salad, or Panzanella, adds sweet peppers and red onions to the traditional dish of toasted bread and tomatoes.
It's International Picnic Day. So, we're going on a picnic and we're bringing...
Tuscan Bread Salad!
Have you ever played the Picnic Game?
You know. The one where someone starts: "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing Apple Pie."
Then the next person says: "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing Apple Pie, and Burgers."
And so on, and so on. Each person following the letters of the alphabet and having to remember everything that was said before them.
I have a terrible memory, so I always hated being near the end.
But, today it's a bit easier to remember all the tasty dishes that come before T in today's Picnic Game.
The mid-week fun is sponsored by Sunday Supper, so you will see some familiar faces in the game lineup below.
Tuscan Panzanella
This Tuscan Bread Salad, known as Panzanella, is a great way to use up stale bread in the summer (when making stuffing is the last thing on your mind).
It is super easy to make, and bursts with flavors and textures of toasted bread, bright tomatoes, sweet peppers and crisp red onions.
The bread becomes beautiful toasted croutons that soak up the light balsamic dressing.
We like to add our bread just before serving our panzanella, so that the croutons add a nice burst of texture to the salad.
Tuscan Bread Salad
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ¼ c White Balsamic Vinegar or regular Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ c fresh basil, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed, or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the Salad
- 1 lb stale French or Italian bread, cut into ½-1" cubes
- ¼ c olive oil
- 4 tomatoes, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 red onion minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Toss the bread cubes with ¼ c oil and place them on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until the bread is crispy.
- Once the bread is toasted, remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly.
- Toss the toasted bread and chopped vegetables together in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the mixture and toss until everything is evenly coated.
- Serve immediately.*
Notes
Today we are celebrating International Picnic Day with a great collection of picnic recipes!
Asian Chicken Salad from Try Anything Once Culinary
Chicken Muffuletta from Marlene Baird
Elote from Peaceful Cooking
Greek Farro Salad from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Italian Pasta Salad from Casa de Crews
Kudos Kitchen Kolaches from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Orzo Salad from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
Quinoa-Stuffed Grape Leaves from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Spicy Southern Fried Chicken from Food Lust People Love
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
I am a total bread junkie so this is the PERFECT salad for me 🙂
Now THIS is an awesome salad! It looks so beautiful. I had never played the picnic game before this but this is super fun.