Panzanella

Panzanella is essentially just salad minus the lettuce with the addition of bread cubes. I made this one last night as I was running out of time to use an old loaf of bread and didn’t want it to go bad. Panzanella is fully customizable and is great for a side dish or a lighter main dish. You can add a protien as well, making it heartier.

Quick Balsamic Panzanella (serves 1)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 inch slice of ciabatta bread
4oz shredded chicken
Half pint of cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup thickly sliced onion
1 garlic clove, cut in half
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt/Pepper

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Half tomatoes and combine them, the chicken, cucumber and onion in a small bowl
3. Oil each side of the bread. Place in oven and brown on each side
4. Let the bread cool, then rub each side with the garlic clove
5. Slice the bread into 1/2 inch cubes and add to the vegetable/chicken mix
6. Drizzle oil and vinegar over the salad (to your specifications). Toss with salt and pepper to taste

Pineapple “Pico de Gallo”

A couple posts back, I made some adobo pork tacos and while eating them I thought to myself, “these tacos would be perfect with some pineapple salsa” so this past weekend, I tried it out. Well my suspicions we totally correct – the sweetness of the pineapple combined with the slight heat from the jalapeno really played up the earthy taste of the adobo. I still served it with some chipotle salsa for some added heat and caramelized onions for texture. It’s a ridiculously easy salsa to prepare, and can be paired with any type of taco (especially good with fish tacos!)

Pineapple “Pico de Gallo”

Ingredients
2 cups canned pineapple, drained and cut up into bite size pieces
1/2 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup cilantro, packed
Juice from 1/2 a lime

Directions
1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl
2. Squeeze lime juice over salsa
3. For best results, refrigerate a few hours to let flavors combine