Day-old bread, brand-new meal

  • By Ellie Krieger Special to The Washington Post
  • Thursday, July 23, 2015 7:32pm
  • Life

Panzanella is a Tuscan bread-and-tomato salad that, like most rustic Italian dishes, manages to be both simple and sublime. Invented as a way to make the most of day-old bread and a garden brimming with vegetables and herbs, at its most basic it consists of a piece of a crusty loaf, perfectly ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

The bread is torn or cubed, coated in olive oil, toasted until crisp and then tossed with the rest of the ingredients so it absorbs the flavorful juices from the tomatoes and dressing, and softens a bit, but retains a pleasant crunch. From there you can run with any number of variations, adding other vegetables and flavor elements such as cucumber, red peppers, fennel, red onion, scallion, additional herbs, capers and/or olives.

Chunks or small balls of fresh mozzarella cheese are also nice additions.

In the accompanying recipe, I include white beans for hearty texture and protein, which turns the salad into a main-course option. To integrate them and give the dish a somewhat more elegant spin, I depart from the usual big, rustic chunks of ingredients and instead dice the cucumber and use quartered grape tomatoes and small bread cubes so everything is petite and bean-size.

Also, rather than overwhelm the dish with heaps of bread, I use just enough of a whole-grain loaf to get the juice-sopping effect while keeping the dish lighter, more healthful and more vegetable-centric.

It’s an easy-breezy salad that feels just right for a summer lunch or to take to a cookout or picnic.

Panzanella with white beans

1/4cup extra-virgin olive oil

11/2cups cubed crusty whole-grain bread (1/2-inch cubes, preferably day-old)

3cups grape tomatoes, cut into quarters

1medium English (seedless) cucumber, cut into 1/2-inch dice

115-ounce can no-salt-added small white beans or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

2scallions (white and green parts), sliced thinly on the diagonal

11/2teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)

11/2tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2teaspoon salt

1/4teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8large basil leaves

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium skillet. Add the bread cubes and toss to coat. Cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasted and crisp. Let cool.

Toss together the tomatoes, cucumber, beans, scallions and thyme in a large bowl. Drizzle with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and the vinegar; season with the salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

Fifteen to 20 minutes before serving, add the toasted bread cubes to the bowl. Tear the basil leaves into small pieces, letting them fall into the bowl, then toss to incorporate.

Makes 6 generous cups.

From nutritionist and cookbook author Ellie Krieger.

Nutrition 5/8 Per serving (based on 4): 300 calories, 10 g protein, 35 g carbohydrates, 15 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 430 mg sodium, 7 g dietary fiber, 5 g sugar

Ellie Krieger’s most recent cookbook is “Weeknight Wonders: Delicious Healthy Dinners in 30 Minutes or Less” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013). She blogs and offers a weekly newsletter at www.elliekrieger.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.