Recipe(tried): Panzanella Italian Bread Salad

After 8 days of 90 degree+ ( a record here in Western Massachusetts) it cleared and cooled off for about 48 hours. Today it was only in the low 80's but the humidity returned :-( Since one of my vegetarian daughters is home she suggested we try Bread Salad since we have been wanting to try it for quite awhile. Here is the recipe we used with a couple of modifications. The recipe is from Gourmet Magazine.

Panzanella

1 large round loaf peasant bread, cut into 1 inch cubes, about 4 cups
1 shallot, finely, chopped
1 clove garlic smashed to paste
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
5 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 green bell r1 yellow, orange or red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium bulb fennel, trimmed and chopped with feathery greens (fronds) reserved
1/2 c. Niciose olives, pitted and halved
12 basil leaves, shredded

Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and leave out, uncovered, to dry for 24 hours. Alternatively, bake cubes in a 300 degree F oven for 10 to 20 minutes until dried out but not toasted.

In a large bowl, whisk together the shallots, garlic, lemon rind and balsamicvinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil in a stream, whisking constantly until well combined. Add tomatoes, bell peppers, fennel and olives, tossing to combine. (My daughter loves roasted peppers so we roasted, peeled and seeded half of the peppers and kept the other half fresh - for crunch. Since we had all of the colors of peppers, we used all colors, figuring it would make for a pretty presentation, or whatever. As for the fennel...none of us are huge fennel fans so I chopped the fennel and served it on the side so we could each add just what we liKed.) Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Thirty minutes before serving the salad add the reserved fennel greens, basil and bread cubes, tossing to coat, and let the salad stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings
Difficulty: easy

As we were making dinner, I set out fresh cubed Italian bread, some fresh sliced mozzerella and some Fontina Val D'osta, as well as some very special basil flavored olive oil from Italy that my daughter brought back from Borough Market in London. What we didn't eat as we made dinner, I served with dinner. We had bread and some basil flavored olive oil left over so we made croutons with that to use for a salad another time.