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Did you know that May is National Salad Month? Well, it is, and so this week we will be celebrating salads! I have at least three salad recipes that I plan to share throughout this week.
This first one I’m sharing is for BLT Panzanella. (Apparently in addition to it being National Salad Month, it’s also bacon month around our house.) I have been wanting to make panzanella, or bread salad, for a long time. I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten around to it yet. As much as we love bread in this house, it was sure to be a hit.
And this definitely was! We all love BLTs, so I thought this would be a good introduction for us to the panzanella. I contemplated on a few different dressing ideas, but finally settled on a vinaigrette. We really liked it with the vinaigrette, though I might try one of my other options next time. The two others I have in mind are a simple aioli or a hot bacon dressing. I think the aioli would give the salad more of an authentic BLT taste, but I’ve never met a salad dressed with hot bacon dressing that I didn’t like. It will definitely be fun to experiment with this.
BLT Panzanella
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine or balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 lb cherry or Roma tomatoes, quartered or halved
- 3 tbsp olive oil, plus more as needed
- 1 lb Italian or other crusty bread, cut into cubes
- 1/2 lb bacon, cut into small pieces, cooked, drained and cooled
- 4 cup torn lettuce (or 1/2 bag salad blend)
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions
Instructions
- In a small glass or plastic bowl, whisk together 1/3 c. olive oil, vinegar, Italian seasoning, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in tomatoes and refrigerate. This tastes best if made a few hours ahead of time although that is certainly not necessary.
- In a small glass or plastic bowl, whisk together 1/3 c. olive oil, vinegar, Italian seasoning, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in tomatoes and refrigerate. This tastes best if made a few hours ahead of time although that is certainly not necessary.
- In a salad bowl, toss together the cooled bread cubes, cooled bacon and lettuce. You can prepare this ahead of time too and just cover and refrigerate at this point.
- Just before serving, toss the salad with the vinaigrette and tomatoes. Enjoy!
Stop by A Southern Fairytale for more Mouthwatering Monday, 5 Minutes For Mom for more Tackle It Tuesday and $5 Dinners for the $5 Dinner Challenge.