Panzanella Salad (For Two)

This is one of those "serendipity" recipes where you happen to have all the ingredients at your disposal. I had some leftover Italian bread, olives, mozzarella cheese, and basil. Plus, all the stuff I usually keep handy like cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and shallots.

I know this is horribly "out" of season. But I just couldn't face another bunch of chard or another squash and I'm ready for summer already! Sorry locavore police. I tried to keep it to ingredients that came from no further than Mexico (rather than Chile like everything seems to come from around here...).

This makes just enough for two people to have a small-to-medium "entree" sized portion. It's extremely easy and in the time it takes the bread to crisp you can assemble the remanning ingredients. Shouldn't take more than about 15 minutes from start to finish.

This salad is usually consumed room temperature. Which makes it an ideal candidate for springtime picnics.

To make it vegan, just swap the cheese for some walnuts or pine nuts.

Ingredients
4 thick slices of Italian bread
1 persian cucumber, roughly chopped into chunks
30 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 pepper (I used yellow), cut into chunks
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced finely
15 basil leaves, chiffonaded (cut into thin strips)
1-2 oz (about 1 to 2 inch size cubes) of mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
10 olives, pitted and cut in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
Salt, to taste

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toast the 4 slices of bread until hard. Alternatively, can be done in a toaster.

2. In the meantime, mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.

3. When the bread is done, remove from oven and cut into large cubes (0.5-1 inch cubes). Toss with the other ingredients. If you want the bread to soak up more of the dressing you can let it sit longer and eat later, or, if you prefer your bread a bit crispy, serve immediately.