panzanella (tuscan bread salad)

By Jody

Ingredients

• 3 large ripe tomatoes
• 1 large cucumber
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1/2 small red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/3 c fresh basil, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp capers
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper
• 3 tbsp evoo
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 pound stale bread
• optional ingredients
• fennel
• grilled eggplant
• radish
• celery
• radicchio

Details

Adapted from theveggietable.com

Preparation

Step 1

after you wash and dry the tomatoes, hold them over the bowl as you cut out the core and cut them into 1 inch pieces, taking care to kepp all of the juice in the bowl.
pell and trim cucmbers, cut in half, remove seeds and slice. trim the peppers, remove sees and thinly slice. thinly slice the onion. add these vegetables to the tomatoes along with the garlic, parsley, basil, and capers (any optional ingredients). add salt, pepper, oil and vinegar and toss.
cut bread i nto 1 inch cubes, add to the vegetables and carefully toss so that the bread soaks up the dressing.
taste and adjust seasoning. let sit for an our or two and serve.