Warmer weather it's the way and you know what that means...Actually I don't know if you do but for me it means al fresco dining on the deck with my new fave spring dish, berry tomato panzanella salad!
I went on a little mini weekend vacay to Coupeville on Whidbey Island with a friend of mine last week aaaand I may or may not have bought the entire inventory of the bakery in town.
Not even remotely sorry either, totally worth it.
Having said that, I did wind up with quite a bit of stale bread because even I can't eat an enormous doggy bag full of fresh loaves and sandwiches in one day.
My go to solution for state bread (part from my new fave savory breakfast casserole)? Berry tomato panzanella salad!
In this version, stale sourdough bread soaks up all that delectable fruit juice from the strawberries and blueberries, as well as your more classic tomatoes.
Add some diced cucumber, a little red onion, chopped basil, and then toss in a quick red wine vinaigrette. That's it! Let chill a couple hours for ultimate yums.
Scroll down for the recipe!
Berry Tomato Panzanella Salad
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
Description
Need to use up leftover sourdough bread? Try this warm weather season strawberry and blueberry panzanella with heirloom cherry tomatoes tossed in a zesty red wine vinaigrette. PS. It's vegan!
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD
- 4 cups rustic sourdough baguette, cut into cubes (preferably stale, if using fresh bread follow step 1 of the recipe)
- 1 lb strawberries, diced
- 8 ounces blueberries
- 8 ounces heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 English cucumber, quartered and sliced
- ยฝ red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch basil, cut chiffonade
FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
- โ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- Pinch of salt and black pepper
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- If using fresh bread (If using stale bread you can skip this step): Preheat oven to 300หF. Place bread cubes on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt. Bake for 15 minutes, until dried out and crunchy. Remove and set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss berries, tomatoes, onion, and cucumber together. Set aside to rest while making the vinaigrette.
- Make the vinaigrette: Combine all ingredients and whisk together until thoroughly combined.
- Add the dried bread cubes and vinaigrette to the tomato mixture. Toss until thoroughly combined.
- Let the salad sit for at least a ยฝ hour, or up to 4 hours, to let dried bread infuse with the salad juices. Stir occasionally if desired to keep vinaigrette thoroughly mixed.
- Add basil chiffonade just before serving.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
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