Thursday, July 24, 2014

Simple Summer Salad

Ever get the feeling that you need a new recipe cause you're going through a recipe rut?  You know, cooking the same old things that are your favorites, but not really that exciting?  This has far too often been the case for me lately!  With it being summer and sometimes hotter than you know what, I was on the hunt for new "summer" recipes that would be light and refreshing.  My latest Food Network magazine came to my rescue the other week to help cure this recipe rut and provided a light summer side dish for our dinner!  Their "mix and match" article was on bread salad, so I decided to give it a go.  I like these mix & match articles/recipes because it gives you a basic recipe to go on, but gives you many ideas and lets you feel like you are creating your own custom recipe.
 
My bread salad recipe that I created from the mix & match template is as follows:
8 cups toasted and cubed sourdough bread
4 cups chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup fresh parsley
1 cup thin sliced cucumber
1 cup thin sliced red onion
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
vinaigrette dressing (1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 3/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest)
 
 
The verdict was that the salad was a winner and something I'll definitely make again.  The only recommendation I have is to make this when you have more than two mouths to feed since the bread in the salad doesn't taste great as leftovers (the recipe makes about 6-8 servings).  Invite some friends
or family over and enjoy this simple summer salad!