Panzanella is a bread salad traditionally made with tomatoes and seasoned with olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, and fresh basil. Many recipes also call for fresh mozzarella and onion. In this recipe, I put a Greek spin on panzanella by using artichoke hearts, feta cheese, fresh parsley, lemon zest, and a Kalamata olive bread. I loved it so much the first time, that I craved it for a full two weeks before I broke down late one night, went to the store, and bought all the ingredients to make it again. My husband and I ate that, and drank a glass of Ponzi Pinot Noir Reserve, for dinner at eight o’ clock. It was divine. And now that I’m typing this recipe up, I’m craving it again… Will the cycle ever end? I kind of hope not!

*Note: If you can’t find olive bread, use any country-style crusty bread and throw some Kalamata, or Green olives, into the artichoke mixture.

Ingredients:

½ loaf Kalamata olive bread (or Green olive bread, if you prefer), cut into large cubes
2 tomatoes, diced
1 jar of artichoke hearts, drained and cut in half
feta cheese, to taste
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground pepper (optional)
lemon zest

Guidelines:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large ovenproof casserole dish, toss the cubed bread with plenty of olive oil and sea salt. Bake in the oven while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a medium skillet, sauté the garlic in olive oil just long enough to release its flavor. Add the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and lemon zest. Cook until just heated through. Add the fresh parsley and fresh ground pepper (optional).

Remove the bread cubes from the oven. Toss the artichoke heart mixture into the bread cubes. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top, and return the pan to the oven. Bake for about five minutes, just long enough to warm the cheese, or if you prefer your bread crispier, bake until you reach your desired texture.

Serve with herb roasted chicken breasts, and/or a glass of your favorite wine.

Enjoy!

This is one of those super simple and satisfying snacks or side dishes that will leave you craving more. (Kind of like popcorn, but healthier. I think. )

To make for the ultimate cheesy experience, buy bread from your bakery that has cheese baked into it. Oh, yeah! You can also substitute the aged white Cheddar that I used for another cheese of your choice. I’m interested in trying Gorgonzola, but my other half isn’t into blue cheese. For a milder flavor, Fontina might be nice.

For a light summer meal, serve this salad with a bowl of assorted summer fruits, such as peaches, cherries, and plums, and a glass of red wine. Maybe Dan the wine editor will do a pairing for us…

Ingredients:

quality, bakery-style, crusty bread (preferably cheese flavored; I used Asiago cheese bread)
Parmesan cheese
aged white Cheddar cheese
fresh mozzarella
cherry tomatoes
fresh basil
olive oil
fresh ground pepper
sea salt

Guidelines:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cube the bread. I used about 6 thick slices for the two of us. If you’re serving more, adjust as necessary. Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss. How much olive oil? You don’t want the bread to be wet, but you want to be able to see a very, very light coating. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Grate the Parmesan cheese and the aged white Cheddar. I used about a ¼ cup of Parmesan, and ½ cup of Cheddar. Again, adjust as necessary. Toss the bread cubes with the cheese.

Place in the oven and bake until the bread is toasty and the cheese is melted, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven. Let cool slightly.

In the meantime, half the cherry tomatoes and chop the fresh basil. I used a large handful of each.

Cube about half a ball of fresh mozzarella.

In a large bowl, toss the toasted bread cubes with the cherry tomatoes, chopped basil, and fresh mozzarella. Add another splash of olive oil, and a generous grind of fresh ground pepper.

I’ve come across several variations of fruit salad calling for basil, which has always sounded interesting to me. Most of the time, I see it paired with peaches, but to be quite honest, the peaches I’ve eaten this summer have been terrible. And I don’t know if you have this problem or not, but every time I bring them home, they come with fruit flies. Yick. So I’m bypassing all things peach right now.

I still wanted to try a salad that paired fruit with basil, however, so I started thinking about flavors, colors, and what was in season. I’d just picked gallons of blueberries and blackberries, which are in abundance right now in the Pacific Northwest. They’d go well with basil, I thought. Now I needed a contrasting color, because, really, who wants to eat a purple and green salad? I needed red! I needed strawberries! Thought slightly out of season, they can still be found in supermarkets, so I went with them. The end result was gorgeous, and tasted magnificent. Even my husband thought so.

For two people, here’s what you do. For more than two, increase the recipe accordingly.

In a stain resistant bowl, combine 1 heaping tablespoon of chopped basil, ½ tsp. of raw sugar, and a grind of black pepper. Yep, that’s right, black pepper. Don’t be afraid now. Mix until sugar is moistened. (As an alternative, omit the sugar and drizzle honey over the top of the fruit, or omit sweetener all together, if your fruit is sufficiently sweet.)

To the bowl, add ½ pint of washed, hulled, and halved strawberries, ½ cup of blueberries, and ½ cup of blackberries. Gently toss the fruit with the basil mixture. Drizzle with a bit of lime juice, let the salad hang out for five or so minutes to let the flavors mingle, and wallah, you have it.