Panzanella

I don't know about you, but I don't care to turn on the oven much in the summer time. I love the fresh tastes of summer and appreciate light lunches in the scorching Kansas heat. This panzanella salad was a perfect start to a nice day by the pool when we were home visiting my parents. (although I did turn on the oven to make croutons, but we did that at night when it was a touch cooler!) Can't wait to have it again soon!

Bonnie has put out a wonderful new cookbook. It's really beautiful and I am excited to try a lot of things out of it. This recipe is adapted from her new book.

Panzanella Salad

homemade croutons (always make extra because they are really tempting to snack on, especially for men passing through the kitchen)
cucumbers, seeded and diced
tomatoes, seeded and dices
bell pepper, chopped
minced red onion
chopped fresh basil leaves
chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
extra virgin olive oil
white wine vinegar
shredded Parmesan cheese

Yes, I noticed I didn't put amounts. I didn't measure and instead used what I had and then made the dressing to taste. If you love tomatoes, use more of those, if you hate peppers, don't use those. You get it.
For the dressing, as a rule of thumb, it's typically 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. In my world, it's more like 2 parts vinegar because I like vinegar. Add in your garlic, salt, and pepper to taste for your dressing, then drizzle it over everything.
I combined everything but the bread and cheese the night before to let the flavors mingle, then added the bread and cheese about a half hour before service. It would be really easy to eat this all week if you just did that every day. Enjoy!