Panzanelle with Toasted Almonds

From a recipe by Jill Dupleix in Good Living Summer + Food, a pullout from The Sydney Morning Herald, October 2007.

Tomatoes are plentiful at the moment and tasty so ideal for salads. This salad comes from a pullout, one of which I saved from some time ago.

For the salad I cut five cherry tomatoes in half and dropped them into a bowl. I then cut two tomatoes into pieces and added them. I sliced a small Lebanese cucumber to add also. Then went in a few roasted blanched almonds, some Sicilian green olives, a little sliced red onion and a few torn basil leaves from the garden.

I sprinkled on a little salt and let it stand while I took a couple of slices of sourdough bread that I brushed with olive oil and toasted under the grill until it had crisped. I sliced this into crouton-like cubes. These were thrown into the salad and a simple dressing made from red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper poured over and gently tossed through.

It’s pleasing to have a salad that doesn’t always depend upon greens as a main ingredient. This had only the slightest amount from the torn basil. It was light and refreshing and so good on a hot day.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔