Bread Salad
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Bread Salad is a dandy way to use leftover bread, something that always seems to be lying around. Be sure and use a good hearty loaf, not wimpy sandwich bread. I like crusty European-style artisan bread, the sort baked by local bakeries and some supermarkets.
Bread salad is made with bite-size cubes of bread with the crust removed, four or five large fresh, ripe tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, cucumber, red onion and a bunch of watercress. This recipe is an adaptation of Tuscan Bread Salad, which was popular long ago.
A bread salad also can provide another meal if you double the recipe (or, for two, use the leftovers). For the first supper, serve the salad with hard-boiled eggs on the side and finish with summer stone fruits (peaches, apricots or nectarines) with cheese.
For the second meal, try bread salad with pasta. I buy fresh linguine in the refrigerated section of the supermarket. Before you start cooking the linguine, put the leftover bread salad in a large bowl in a 200-degree oven to warm while you are cooking the linguine. Drain the linguine, add it to the bowl and toss. Finish it with a generous grating of sharp cheese. Dessert could be a fruit sorbet with cookies.
Core tomatoes and cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half in 1/2-inch strips. Holding strips together, chop crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in large bowl and set aside.
Cut garlic into tiny strips lengthwise, then hold strips together and chop into tiny pieces crosswise. Add to tomatoes. Cut onion into 1/4-inch strips lengthwise. Holding strips together, cut strips crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Add to bowl. Peel cucumber and cut it lengthwise down center. Using teaspoon, hold cucumber half over sink and scrape out seeds. Cut each cucumber half in 4 strips lengthwise, then cut into 1/2-inch pieces crosswise. Add to bowl. Salt vegetables in bowl to taste and toss to mix vegetables. Taste and add more salt if salad tastes flat.
Place vinegar in small bowl, add oil and whisk to mix well, or use a spoon and stir briskly. Pour dressing over salad and toss to mix salad thoroughly.
Trim crust off bread with sharp knife and discard. Cut loaf into 1/2-inch cubes and add to salad. Toss salad to mix thoroughly. If it seems a little dry, add more olive oil and another spoonful or two of vinegar. Remove leaves from watercress stems and add to salad. Toss and serve.
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