Panzanella Salad

This is a combination of four or five recipes from Emeril, Barefoot Contessa, Tyler Florence, my Mom and her cousin Grace.

I have to say my Mom and her family were the best unpublished cooks ever.

They used everything and never wasted a drop of leftover food.

This is where the old bread salad comes from.

Mix it with the abundance of garden tomatoes and vegetables and that was a meal.

Everyone had a garden and shared all the fruits and vegetables.

It was wonderful.

I am going to give you my version and it won’t be as good as my Moms but it is not bad.

One pound leftover grilled pizza dough, cut unto one inch cubes

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil with the salt then add the bread cubes.

Leave it alone till they are toasted on one side then turn to toast the other side.

I always make extra because these disappear quickly.

Two to three cups of yellow or grape tomatoes. My Mom cut up all the touched big tomatoes

Two large cut bite size red peppers.

6 diced scallions or one small thinly sliced red onion

Two handfuls of arugula

25  fresh basil leaves, only use fresh

1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley

One chopped avocado

One large seeded, cubed, unpeeled cucumber

One handful baby spinach

3 tablespoons capers with their brine

20 cooked broccoli flowerts

Dressing

Three cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

8 tablespoons olive oil

Put the garlic and salt in a processor and pulse till it is minced.

Add everything else and mix well

You can eliminate the mustard but increase the salt. My Mom rarely used mustard.

Toss everything together

I had a 1/2 bag of tortellini in my freezer and boiled it up and added it to the salad.

This is a poor mans salad so anything can be added or subtracted.

Just mix it with the dressing and enjoy