Left-over Bread Salad

Use the freshest and crispiest vegetables for this salad.

Bread salad, otherwise known as Panzanella Salad, is well-known in the Mediterranean area.  Left-over bread is cubed and sautéed in olive oil, then tossed with vegetables and vinaigrette.  This can be served as a side salad or by itself.  As a full meal, you can add your choice of protein such as cheese or meat.  My version is quite simple, however, note the suggested optional ingredients listed if you would like to expand this. 

serves  4 - 6                                          Prep time:  20 minutes

Several cups French or sourdough bread cubes
Olive oil
8 or more large leaves Romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
2 large tomatoes, cut into large cubes
1 large cucumber, thickly sliced or cut into cubes
1 large red pepper, cut into squares
1/4 - 1/2 red onion, chopped
several large basil leaves, torn into smaller pieces
Vinaigrette to moisten salad (I use 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, salt and pepper)
Optional additions:
1 cup protein, such as chicken, tofu, or ham, shredded or cubed
1/2 cup eggplant, cooked and cubed
1/4 cup crumbled Feta
1/4 cup Nicoise olives
Chopped parsley

Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute bread cubes until golden.  I use just enough oil to make the bread cubes crispy and not greasy.  Set aside.

Prepare the vegetables and place in a large bowl.  Add the bread cubes. 

Toss with vinaigrette to moisten and serve.

One-quarter serving of the above salad offers over 6 grams fiber, almost 14 grams protein, close to your daily requirement for vitamin C, about half the daily requirement for iron, thiamine, selenium, and manganese, and 450 calories.  Although the salad is about 30% fat, it is mostly monounsaturated (10 g)and polyunsaturated (2-3 g) which is good. 

- Kim Fielding

Figgy Jam Appetizer



The last figs of the season.   

Late summer and early autumn is the time for ripe figs. We are very fortunate to have had two fig trees in our yard.  They were already planted when we purchased our home over 20 years ago. The boys and their friends built tree houses in the Black Mission and they were always throwing fruit at each other.  By the end of each season, good figs still on the trees was a rare treat.  And we constantly had little fig trees growing all over the yard!  Now that the kids are grown, we have really enjoyed this delicate treasure.

We lost our Calmyrna last year and alas it looks as though the Black Mission is waning.  I was determined to pick every last fruit and preserve the figs so we can enjoy them for a long while.  Sunset Publishing has a marvelous home canning guide that has several tried and true recipes.  If canning isn't your thing, buy the fig jam already made.

This appetizer has pleased many a client over the years. 


All put together. 

serves:  8                    prep time:  10 minutes

A couple pieces of good quality cheese, such as Cow Girl Creamery Red Hawk,  a creamy Gorgonzola, a triple creme brie, or a harder cheese such as Ibarra
1/4 cup fig jam
Crackers (I like Lesley Stowe's Raincoast Crisps and whole wheat mini toasts)
Dried apricots
Whole almonds and/or walnut halves

Arrange the cheeses on a platter and place a small cheese knife next to or in each piece.  Put the fig jam in a decorative bowl and serve with a small spoon or knife on the platter.  Surround the jam and cheese with crackers, apricots, and nuts.  That's it!


2-1/2 pounds of fresh figs produces about 5 pints of figgy jam. 
This recipe from Sunset's Canning Guide includes
zested orange peel and chopped walnuts for a little crunch.

- Kim Fielding