Panzanella is a salad of bread and tomatoes. You can add a lot of variations to this to personalize it. I was watching Ina Garten on Food Network this afternoon and when I saw her make a grilled version of this salad, I paused the show and headed to the store to get the necessary ingredients.
Slice up red and yellow bell peppers, as well as a red onion. Brush with olive oil and grill. (You can totally do this outdoors OR indoors!) While these were grilling, I cut up a tomato into small cubes. Ina's recipe called for a hothouse cucumber and capers, as well. I don't love cucumber so I skipped this, and I was too impatient to look for the capers. Geez! She also added some chopped basil to this mixture - my grocery store was out of this.
Flip the vegetables to grill both sides. Once done, add the onions to the tomato/cucumber mixture, and place the bell pepper on a cutting board to cut into smaller pieces. Then add to the salad. After that, slice a baguette on the diagonal and lightly oil - grill up. Once grilled to perfection, add to the salad.
You will top all of this with a homemade vinaigrette. Mix, and serve warm. Yum!
I think the salad would look 10x better with the specks of green from the basil. But let them assure you that even with some modifications, this salad was delicious!
Mary
