Summer Panzanella

Panzanella is Italian bread salad. It’s super easy to make, infinitely adaptable, and downright delicious. Usually it’s made with slightly stale bread, but you can also use crusty bread. I actually made it in my office (check the awesome low watt institutional lighting!) with ingredients from the farmer’s market. 

Here's what's in mine:

Ciabatta roll

1 medium tomato

2 peaches

5ish basil leaves

a handful of arugula (not always in panzanella, but I wanted a more salad-y experience)

oil and vinegar, or your favorite dressing

salt and pepper.

Rip the bread and dice the tomatoes and peaches into bite size pieces. Chop and add the basil leaves. Mix together with the rest of the ingredients and serve. Note: Don’t be afraid to salt those tomatoes; salt will bring out the natural sweetness of the delicious summer tomatoes!

Here’s the other thing that’s cool: I spent less than $5 on the major ingredients! I’m always looking for cheap, easy, and healthy lunches, so I challenged myself to try to spend less than $5. Ciabatta with $1, the tomato was $1.35 (I sprung for heirloom), 2 peaches were $.45, I only spent a quarter on basil, and $.95 on arugula. Total = $4! (Tim, check my math.)