Bruschetta Salad Revisited as a Dinner Salad

I made my Bruschetta salad for the first time back in 2009 and loved it.  Bread salads are also known as a Panzanella salads.  It is best when done with home grown tomatoes because they are so juicy but since you marinate them store bought work out just fine.  Tonight I made a modified version from my Cuisine at Home magazine May/June 2014 which had more ingredients, making it perfect for a light spring dinner.  Next time I make it I'll modify it again slightly by combining what I loved in my original salad with the additions this new recipe gave me.  The challenge is going to be figuring out what sausage links I bought at Costco since they were not marked in my freezer. They were thick sweet, probably fruity, maybe apple but very tasty.  The dressing in the Cuisine at Home recipe was a bit too tart so I didn't use it all because I didn't care for it by itself, so much so I tossed what I didn't use. On the salad however with what I did use and all the other flavors it was good together.  When I make it next time I'll use my Bruschetta marinade which has half the vinegar and slowly add the other ingredients tasting as I go.

So here is my original recipe:

BRUSCHETTA SALAD
Bake:
½ stale baguette (16 slices)
Salt, Pepper and Paprika to taste
Marinate:
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
¼ C. (4 T.) olive oil
2 T. red wine vinegar
2 t. (2-3 cloves) garlic, grated
¼ t. coarse black pepper
Topping:
20 basil leaves, scissor cut

Cube bread into large crouton bites and place on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle bread with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.  Bake 400°F for 15 minutes.  Core and chop tomatoes.  Add to a large bowl along with olive oil, red wine vinegar and grated garlic.  Marinate tomatoes on counter.  Add bread to tomato mixture 10 minutes before you are ready to serve, no more than 30 minutes or it becomes soggy.   When ready to serve top with basil or mix in with tomatoes.

Note:  Great use of stale bread but fresh bread works too.  Freeze ends of French bread and when you have enough use in this salad.  Another option is to bake bread in slices then you can rub the cooled bread with fresh garlic cloves, then cube.

GRILLED GOOBER PANZANELLA

2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 head romaine lettuce, sliced
16 slices sourdough baguette, baked
1 C. cubed cheese (sun dried tomato mozzarella, mozzarella, fontina or any semi hard cheese)
Grill:
6 sausage links, cooked, sliced
1 red bell pepper, cooked whole, peeled, seeded, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, cooked whole, peeled, seeded, diced
1 red onion, sliced in 1/2" thick slices

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Slice bread, drizzle with EVOO and bake for 15 minutes or till golden brown.  Let cool, rub with a garlic clove, cut into 4 cubes.
On a medium hot grill, 250°F, grill sausage links, whole red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper and red onion cut in ½” thick slices.  Grill onions for about 5 minutes or until soft, grill sausage links and whole peppers till peppers and sausages are chard and sausages reach 155°F, about 10-15 minutes. Let sausage rest 10 minutes before slicing.  When peppers are blackened on all sides, add to a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap to sweat for 10-15 minutes.  Then peel, seed and cube.  Dice cooked onions.

To a large bowl mix marinade, add diced tomatoes, romaine lettuce, toss.  Add remaining grilled ingredients and cubed cheese.  Toss.  Serve immediately.

Original Vinaigrette:

1/4 C. red wine vinegar

1/4 C. EVOO

1 T. minced fresh garlic

1 T. capers

1 t. anchovy paste

1 t. Dijon mustard

1/2 t. dried oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste (I added 1/4 t. coarse black pepper and 1/8 t. salt)

Add all ingredients to a mini food processor and process to combine.

Note:  By itself this wasn't the best dressing so I didn't use it all on the salad.  Next time I'll modify it slightly using half the red wine vinegar and then taste test it before I add the capers, anchovy paste, and Dijon to make sure I love all three.  Instead of the oregano I will add the fresh basil if I have it on hand.

Cooking Method:  You can also char the peppers over a gas burner on the stove.  If the bell pepper doesn't blacken it won’t peel but as long as it is soft, it is cooked and OK to use.  You can cube the bread before you cook it the only difference is that you can't rub it with fresh garlic and you can also do it on the grill but I find the oven to be easier if you are not worried about heating up the house ever so slightly.


UPDATE:  vinaigrette now much better and I used it all.

Final Vinaigrette:

1/4 C. apple cider vinegar

1/4 C. grapeseed oil

1 clove garlic, grated

1 t. capers

1 t. anchovy paste

1 t. harvest coarse ground mustard

⅛ t. coarse black pepper