; Supermarket Serenade: Barefoot Thursday! Panzanella

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Barefoot Thursday! Panzanella

I know I’ve only been doing this for a month, but so far this is my favorite recipe for Barefoot Bloggers. (FYI Barefoot Bloggers are a group of bloggers that prepare 2 recipes a month from the Barefoot Contessa-Ina Garten). This month's recipe was for Panzanella and it was chosen by Melissa of It's Melissa's Kitchen. Thank you Melissa for choosing such a delicious recipe!


Honestly though, toasty bread tossed with fresh chopped veggies and basil what is not to love? I made only a few minor changes:

· I omitted the mustard (can’t really stomach the stuff)
· I omitted the capers (forgot to put them on the shopping list)
· I added diced avocado (quite possibly the most perfect food-I love them and thought they would be a nice addition)


We enjoyed this salad so much, that after finishing I cut up some additional bread, toasted it (this time instead of cooking it in a skillet I spread it out on a baking sheet, tossed with the oil and salt then baked it at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or so) I then bagged it and froze it to take up to my brother’s lake house this weekend to make it again.

My supermarket had just taken loaves of French bread out of the oven, so it was a challenge to not eat the bread by itself, although I did steal a few cubes. My supermarket does not carry champagne vinegar, but luckily I was able to buy some at my local Homegoods. Although it was a bit pricey-$7.99 for a small bottle, I do think the taste is worth it.

Keeper, keeper, keeper.

Barefoot Contessa Panzanella from Barefoot Contessa Parties!

3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
½ red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinkly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained

For the vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.

For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together.

In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.



Please don’t forget to vote for my Warm Tropical Fruit Wraps-in the evening category! XXOO.

30 comments:

Kirsten said...

I love the idea of adding avocado. Your salad looks great!

Prudy said...

The addition of avocado sounds heavenly. It looks wonderful. Good luck on your vote gathering. You know you've got mine daily.

Mary Ann said...

It looks amazing and how smart of you to fix some bread cubes for later- great idea! We loved this salad, perfect for a summer's evening.

NKP said...

Great idea to add the avacado. Your salad is beautiful. Now to check out this voting thing...

Maria said...

I love all of these salads! Avocado is a great addition!

Anonymous said...

Avocados are perfect, and a great, clever addition!

Thistlemoon said...

I love bread salads! This one looks awesome! :) Avocado is good with almost anything!

Melissa said...

The avocado sounds great!

Summer said...

Looks delicious. I will try adding avocado next time.

Aggie said...

Look at your toasty bread! YUM! I loved this salad...and I love your addition of avocado!

Unknown said...

I love love love how you added avocado. I think the greatest thing about this dish is that you can change it up so much.

I to cant stomach mustard and left out the capers. Cant wait to make again with a bread that isnt horrible!

webbie said...

The pictures look great! Love the idea of the avacodo. I learn sooo much from the BBs.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures! And, I love avocado, too - I'll have to try that next time! ;)

Anonymous said...

Whew! I've been trying to get on your site all day. I love the addition to avacado. I bet it was mighty tasty! Don't you love Homegoods? It has to be one of my favorite places on earth. I get a lot of my cutsy dishes there because if I break one, oh well.
~Cat

Linds said...

What a gorgeous panzanella and I love the addition of the avocado. Thank you also for the great suggestion regarding the peppered cheese- I am def going to be trying that version soon!

test it comm said...

What a nice fresh summery salad. I like the addition of the avocado.

La Bella Cooks said...

Oh, good choice adding avocado! I can't get enough of those and put them in every salad I make, it seems. The last picture is gorgeous with the fresh basil right on top!

Claremont First Ward said...

Not surprisingly, it looks delicious.

Shandy said...

Oh, how did you refrain from taking a slight nibble on the fresh French bread? The aroma just about gets me everytime when I go shopping after work. I love your photos and the idea of adding avocado. We didn't add capers only because I seem to "yet" learn how to like them. =D

grace said...

you deserve a nice pat on the back, adding the avocado like that. just a simple change like that would make all the difference for me--it looks fantastic. :)

Deb in Hawaii said...

Great pictures! This is my favorite recipe so far too. The avacado added in sounds wonderful.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Great pictures! This is my favorite recipe so far too. The avacado added in sounds wonderful.

Amy said...

Looks wonderful!! I'm off to go vote:) Good luck!

Emily said...

Mmm, salad.

I just saw your note, to the right. I'm SO voting for you. One time I was in an online voting contest, and it sucked. I lost, and I was mad for at least a week. Anyway. Good luck!

Aunt Julie said...

This sounds so delish! My SIL is thinking about starting a Recipe Blog--any tips?

RecipeGirl said...

This looks terrific. I've never had a panzanella salad before! Your changes were good ones.

Tracy said...

Now that's a group I could get into -- I love Ina! Your salad looks great. It's interesting to me that you can't stomach mustard...

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow looks gr8, healthy and tasty.

Rebecca of "Ezra Pound Cake" said...

Avocado is an AWESOME addition. This looks great!

Robin said...

I voted for your wraps in the Dole contest! I hope you win! Check out my awards page for the music meme you sent me.