Grilled Panzanella Salad

This is a favorite in our house! The delicious vinaigrette tossed in with all these different grilled & raw vegetables, herbs and briny capers… yum!

The grilled bread inside is always tasty but I have to be honest… we enjoy this salad all the time without the bread! It’s a great vinaigrette to go on raw and grilled vegetables. I can’t really call it panzanella without the bread, but it’s a great vinaigrette to remember.

I’m one of those people that prefers to make my dressings at home. This is a great example of why! It has so much flavor with items you likely already have in your pantry.

So much of this salad can be done ahead of time and it keeps really well. Whatever you do, don’t add the bread until just before serving or you’ll have mush… and nobody wants that!

As always, this is another recipe that has lots of flexibility. I used roasted red peppers in this because that’s what I had in the house but I’ve grilled a fresh pepper for this and it’s delicious. We’ve had the zucchini grilled and raw and both are delicious. Use red, whiteor sweet onion in here. I used grape tomatoes in this recipe, but if you have tomatoes on the vine laying around… use them!

I used mini cucumbers hear because that’s what I had. You can definitely use an English cucumber as well. I love them because they are low on seeds and the skin is edible which makes the color even better.

I LOVE capers (probably too much) so I’d add way more than I’m putting here. If you don’t want the briny capers, leave them out.

For the bread, I like to just slice a baguette lengthwise and grill it like that because it’s easy for me to keep an eye on two pieces 🙂 If you’d like more of a crunch and toast on your bread, slice it thinly on the bias so that it toasts all over on the grill.

Feel free to make this your own. Add in or take out whatever vegetables or herbs you’d like. Just take the basics from it and let your imagination (and your vegetable bin) run wild! 🙂

Grilled Panzanella Salad

By Lindsay Gosselin Serves: 4-6 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1 zucchini, cleaned and halved
• 1 small baguette of your choice, halved lengthwise
• 6 oz roasted red peppers, roughly chopped
• 5 oz cherry tomatoes, halved (a large handful)
• 1 English cucumber, cut into half moons
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1-2 tbsp basil or parsley, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• ¼ c & 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1

Preheat the grill on low to medium heat Prep the onion by cutting off the ends and removing the skin. Slice the onion into ½ inch thick slices (you want each slice to stay together as it grills so don’t separate the rings).

2

Place the onion slices, halved zucchini and bread on a cutting board or tray. Drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil on the bread and veggies. Use you hand to coat each part with the olive oil.

3

Once the grill is preheated, put the onion slices on the grill. Cook on low for 5-6 minutes each side. Remove from grill when lightly browned and cooked through and set aside.*

4

While the onions are cooking, the bread can get thrown on the grill as well. It’ll only need 2-3 minutes per side depending on your grill temperature. Once toasted well on both sides, remove from grill and set aside.

5

Turn the heat up to high and place the zucchini on the grill. Cook 2 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.

6

While the onions grill, prepare the vinaigrette. In a large bowl, add the minced garlic, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Whisk until combined.

7

While whisking continuously, slowly add in the ¼ c olive oil until it emultifies (all the ingredients are completely combined).

8

Now we are just chopping and dropping into the vinaigrette. Add the chopped roasted red peppers, halved tomatoes, cut cucumbers, herbs, and capers into the bowl.

9

Cut the cooked onion and zucchini into bite sized pieces and add them to the bowl.

10

Stir to incorporate all the ingredients.

11

Slice the bread into bite sized pieces. Toss the bread in the salad and serve immediately.

Notes

*This step can definitely be done in advance. Basically, the whole thing can be assembled ahead of time except for the bread.