thanksgiving detox lunch - panzanella salad

So after an evening of Thanksgiving turkey fat, whiskey-laced whipped cream, and far too much pumpkin and pecan pie - I needed to detox.

Nothing too drastic, but I wanted some veg in my system. Nothing quite so boring as a spinach salad of course, so I looked at the remnants of yesterday's farmers market trip, and came up with a panzanella salad.



Panzanella is an Italian bread salad with market fresh tomatoes, and a flavourful acidic vinaigrette. I had some fig and anise bread from Terra Breads, and a few other tidbits in the fridge so this was a-go.

• Cut the bread into large bite-sized pieces, toss in oil, toast
  
• Toss red pepper strips with bread and oil, roast along with bread
  
• In non-reactive bowl, mix white wine vinegar, peppery olive oil, salt and pepper
  
• I also added a little bit of artichoke pesto I bought. It adds creaminess, garlic and salt to the mix
  
• Toss in heirloom tomato wedges, onion shards and cubed golden beets into dressing
  
• Let sit
  
• Toss the bread in the dressing when it's toasted
  
• Add the red pepper when it's roasted
  
• Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Everything should be coated. Add more oil/vinegar as needed
  
• If you have greens (bitters are better like arugula, dandelion...), toss them with the marinade and serve immediately
  
• I used baby spinach and sunflower sprouts, but I didn't toss them with the dressing
  
• Top with shaved parmesan

I'm not mentioning any quantities because this dish is the essence of rustic. Add as much of whatever as you like, just make sure you TASTE TASTE TASTE! If you don't like the flavour, then fix it!

Yums.