Slice Of Honey logo

Summer Salad

PANZANELLA SUMMER SALAD

by 1 Comment

Farmer’s Market Finds

When I first moved to Texas, I distinctly remember waking up at all hours of the night and checking the temperature. It was August and even at 3:00 in the morning, we were at 90°F outside. The low temperatures were in the 90’s!!! The highs were certainly hitting around 110°F. I grew up with hot summers in Kansas. Over the last few years though, I had been living in much colder climates in Western New York and then Colorado. I quickly learned how to cope with the heat though. Here in San Antonio, it is all about pool life with snacks and drinks in hand. There were a lot of antics that first summer. Fence hopping, trivia at a nearby hole in the wall, dancing at clubs downtown, plus lots of sangria and snacks by the pool. Every weekend, my friends and I would hit up the farmer’s market for fresh, healthy ingredients. We would buy whatever produce we could find and then create those pool side snacks from our haul. This Panzanella Summer Salad would have been the perfect addition to our pool side spreads that summer.

Panzanella Summer Salad

The base of a traditional panzanella is lightly toasted pieces of bread with large chunks of tomatoes. You will not a single leaf of lettuce. The beauty from here is that you can add in subtle or bright flavors to compliment those base ingredients. I wanted to add an extra sweetness to my version so I’ve tossed in peaches – such a classic summer ingredient. Even with the pieces of bread tossed in, this salad is light and refreshing. A perfect dish for those summer days spent by the pool.

Tips:

  • Go ahead and make this salad a few hours in advance. The juices of the tomatoes and peaches will start to soak into the bread (without making it soggy). This helps to blend the flavors.
  • This salad is the perfect opportunity to use up any tomatoes that might be overripe. The extra juiciness will only add flavor.

Panzanella Summer Salad

The perfect salad for your summer finds from the farmer's market.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 5 cups rustic multigrain bread, cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 5 medium, ripe tomatoes of mixed variety, cut into 1/2" cubes
  • 2 ripe peaches, cut in half & sliced thin
  • 1/2 small red onion, cut in half and sliced thin
  • 10 large basil leaves cut into thin strips

For the salad dressing

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread bread pieces out on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Bake 6 minutes or until lightly toasted, not browned. Remove from oven and let cool.
  • In a large bowl, gently toss together toasted bread with
    tomatoes, peaches, red onion and basil.
  • For the salad dressing, whisk all ingredients in a small
    bowl. Drizzle over salad as desired.

Notes

If you can’t find a rustic multigrain bread, swap it out for another hearty loaf of your choosing such as ciabatta or sourdough. 

Watermelon Salad

by 3 Comments

I keep wondering if I’m getting wimpier with age or if this summer really has been excruciatingly hot. I’m leaning toward the latter but the honest answer is that it’s probably both. I’ve been thinking back on all those summers I spent working at YMCA camps (shout out to Camp Wood and Camp Cosby!) and wondering how I survived living in little cabins with no air conditioning. I’m confident that I survived by being preoccupied with lots of fun activities and friends. I mean, who has time to think about the heat when you’re guiding a group of kids through a mud hike?! Still, we’ve been hitting triple digit temperatures on a daily basis with not much relief in sight. I give a lot of credit to all the summer camp staffers out there who have pushed through this heat to give kids the best week(s) they could imagine.

Watermelon Salad - Slice Of Honey Blog

When it’s this hot outside, I have no interest in turning on the oven. Simple fresh ingredients are the way to go and summer provides such delicious seasonal produce! Naturally, I had to use this to my advantage. My daughter has been on a watermelon kick lately so I opted to use that as my base. I’m all about use what you’ve already got at home when possible. With just five ingredients, the hardest part of this salad will simply be cutting the watermelon. Other than that, this is as easy as a recipe can get. Enjoy!

Watermelon Salad - Slice Of Honey Blog

 

Tips:                                                                                           

  • Although more expensive, you can certainly buy pre-cut watermelon to make this recipe even easier to make.
  • You can certainly toss the salad together a day ahead. Just be sure to cover and store in the refrigerator and don’t add the salad dressing until you are ready to serve it.

 

P1030510 

Watermelon Salad

Salad:

8 cups watermelon, cut into bite sized pieces

2 cups blueberries

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled or cubed

1 Tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

 

Dressing:

1 cup blueberries

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

 

Directions:

In a large bowl, toss together all of the salad ingredients. In a blender, liquefy the dressing ingredients. Drizzle dressing over individual servings of salad, as desired.

 

Watermelon Salad - Slice Of Honey Blog