Every summer when tomatos are in season, I have an obsession with some form of food resulting in the combination of tomatos, mozzarella and basil. Last summer it was Bruschetta on garlic Naan bread. This summer’s obsession (thanks to my mother-in-law) is Panzanella, which is an Italian bread salad. I think we have made about 4 big batches in the last 3 weeks, and it disappears within an hour. 

Grape tomatos work great for this salad, but it is better if you mix in at least one or two large tomatos for the juice, since the bread soaks it up. The best batch we have made also included a fresh baguette from Bloom bakery. The rest of ingredients are:

half a ball of mozzarella, diced

5 or 6 fresh basil leaves, diced

half a green bell pepper, diced

half a candy white onion, thinly sliced

half of a baguette (maybe 1 day old), cut into 1 inch cubes

tbsp olive oil

tbsp italian dressing

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

optional: chives