Tuscan Bread Salad

Submitted by Fluffy

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 slices Italian bread, small or 8 slices French baguettes, small,several days old
• 3 large tomatoes
• salt
• 1 small red pepper
• 1⁄2 cup thinly sliced peeled and seeded cucumber
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• fresh ground black pepper

directions

1. Break the bread into bite sized pieces and place in a serving bowl.
2. Remove the stems from tomatoes, and chop them into 1/2 inch cubes.
3. Place tomatoes and their juices over the bread.
4. Season with several pinches of salt and let sit 10 minutes.
5. The moisture from the tomatoes will soften the bread.
6. Toss after 10 minutes.
7. Cut the pepper into 1/2 inch squares and add to salad bowl.
8. Add cucumbers.
9. Whisk vinegar and garlic together.
10. Season with pinch of salt.
11. Whisk in olive oil.
12. Add dressing to salad.
13. Season to taste with pepper.
14. Toss well.

Reviews

[FlemishMinx]

We'd never eaten anything quite like this before, and it is really delicious ! I used 5-day old slices of ciabatta, and am amazed at how they softened up. I had a yellow pepper instead of a red one, and I think this made the salad even prettier. Following evelyn/athens line of thinking, I also added about 3 TBS fresh basil chiffonade. We found the viniagrette was just right as posted, not too bitter. I served this with a very spicy jerk chicken and they complemented each other perfectly. I'll be keeping this one in mind each time I have stale bread. Thanks for posting !

 

[evelynathens]

Very nice. I added more cucumber instead of green pepper at my kids' request. The dressing was a little sharp-tasting, so taste before adding both tablespoonfuls of vinegar. A sprinkling of oregano was very nice mixed in, too!