What's For Dinner?: Panzanella Salad Yumminess

If you've been reading this blog regularly you would know that in the past- I have posted a fair amount of recipes...and it's been a while:(  The summer heat has gotten the best of me- and I'm afraid I have not been cooking/baking as much as usual- and my brain (and belly) is missing some good hearty dinners and sweet treats:)

So today- I felt a burst of inspiration- I think it was the raging thunderstorms that put a wonderful coolness in the air that did it.  Anyhow- I've been wanting to make this for what seems like years...and I'm SOOOO glad I did.  Super simple- super fresh, pretty healthy, and perfect for summer- check it out. It's going into my weekly dinner rotation.

We got delicious tomatoes from the farm this week- so I figured I'd take advantage of the fresh produce in the house

I started off with 1/2 of a baguette leftover from the weekend- in all the recipes I've seen it says that slightly stale bread works best.  I sauteed it in a couple Tbls. of EVOO and sprinkled it with sea salt until it was nice and brown and crispy.

Then came the veggies-
I used 3 tomatoes, 1/2 an English cucumber, 1/2 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and an orange pepper.

oh- and lots of fresh basil (and some s&p)

I chopped everything to about this size:

Then I made a quick dressing (my apologies for the lack of picture- I remembered once I'd dumped it onto the salad:) 

My apologies also for the lack of direction and precise measurements- I'm a quick dressing kinda gal- just throw some stuff together- whisk it up- it's usually delicious- the measurements below are an approximation:) any vinaigrette would do!  Then you toss everything together- and let it sit for a bit, give the bread a chance to soak up the tomato juices and dressing....

Oh was it delicious.  The bread is crispy and chewy and the dressing pulls everything together so tasty- I wish I had another bowl right now;)

Panzanella Salad

1/2 loaf day old bread
2 Tbls olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt3 ripe, fresh tomatoes
1/2 english cucumber
1 bell pepper
1/2 red onion
2 cloves garlic

Dressing

3 Tblsp olive oil
2 Tblsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey
salt and pepper