Savor what's left of summer!

I've had a case of the blah's when it comes to my side dishes lately.  I love the gorgeous fresh vegetables that are in season right now, but I've been in a rut on how I've been using them.  Same ole, same ole stuff.  You've been there, right?

So I mixed it up a bit this week by doing a grilled panzanella salad.  Oh my, was it tasty.  This dish is going into the summer must-make handbook.

All these ingredients are interchangeable.  If you're like me, folks this time of year are giving you all kinds of random vegetables from their overflowing home gardens, so there is no real planning on what ingredients I will have on hand from one night to the next.  Don't stress if you have a squash instead of a zucchini, or only green bell peppers.  The only ingredients you must have for this are garlic, onions (even if its red onions or vidalia, they would work wonderfully), tomatoes and bread (I use ciabatta, but french bread would would be fine).  From there, use your imagination...

You have likely seen panzanella salad recipes before that use vegetables raw.  Grilling them takes this salad to a whole other level of yummy-ness.  Trust me.

Grilled Panzanella Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt/Pepper

1/2 Green Bell Pepper; seeded

1/2 Red Bell Pepper; seeded

1 Bunch Green Onions; washed and trimmed

1 Medium Zucchini; sliced

1/2 loaf Ciabatta Bread; halved like sandwich bread

2 Tomatoes; large diced

7-9 Basil Leaves; sliced into little ribbons

Dressing:

4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

1 clove Garlic; minced

Kosher Salt/Black Pepper/Italian Seasoning; added to taste

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Line up bell peppers, onions, zucchini, and bread on a cookie sheet.

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill veggies and bread just long enough to get good grill marks on them.  Be careful to not let the zucchini get too cooked and mushy.  I turned these after about two minutes, then let them cook for another minute to two before taking them off.

Let the veggies cool on the sheet tray while you slice and dice the tomatoes and basil ribbons.  Add them to a large mixing bowl.

 

In a small jar with a lid (or whisk with a wire whisk in a bowl) add in olive oil, vinegar, minced garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.  Put the lid on the jar and give it a quick shake to combine.

Slice the cooled veggies from the grill.  You want these to be in large bite sized chunks.  Add veggies to the tomatoes and basil.  Pour dressing over vegetables and give them a stir to combine.

 

Lastly, cube grilled bread.  Add bread to the bowl and gently stir to combine all the ingredients.  The outside of the bread will sop up the dressing and juice from the fresh tomatoes.  Yum-O!

 

I served my panzanella salad with a side of BBQ'd Pork Tenderloin.  It was a perfect summer meal.  Come on.  Break out summer side dish rut! 

If you want to make it ahead of time, assemble salad.  It will keep at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.  But wait to put mix in the toasted bread cubes a few minutes before serving. 

Let me know if you likey...