Bread salad / Panzanella

When I first saw this recipe....I really loved it....then I came to know that its a classic made by Italians.
Tho we only know of salads which use a variety of leaves..this is a salad made purely with bread, which is kind of interesting. Its absolutely simple to make and delicious too.
So for my Soups and Salads theme in this blogging marathon, I chose this as one of my salads.

If you like crispy croutons and are like me in picking them out of the salad and devouring them, then you would like the crispy bread salad.
Its required that you use a day old firm textured bread for this salad. But I think it will even taste yummy if you use plain croutons to create this in a jiffy!

What I did was use a firm french bread, chopped into pieces, a crisped them up in the oven @350 degrees till they were turning slightly brown in color. This allows the bread not to become totally soggy immediately after the dressing is added, and they slowly absorb the dressing.

Ingredients:


2 cups Day old Italian or french bread (or any other firm textured bread), chopped into bite sized pieces, crisped in the oven @ 350 degrees till they turn slightly brown in color.


1 tbsp chopped red onion
1 tomato, chopped into tiny pieces
2 cloves of garlic, chopped tiny
1 small green bell pepper or half of a large one, chopped into small pieces
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves

2 tbsp olive oil
lemon juice to taste
salt and pepper to taste


Method:

Mix the bread, onion, tomato, green bell pepper, garlic, parsley leaves and basil leaves together in bowl.
In a small bowl, mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
Mix the olive oil mixture with the bread mixture and mix well to coat all pieces.
Chill for an hour before serving. (I liked it even before chilling, cos the pieces are crisper)
Serve and Enjoy!!!

Jump on here to check on my fellow marathoners :)

Sending this to Srivalli's Soups and Salads Mela -