A Very Special Salad Guest Post

I am so excited to introduce today's 30 Days of Salad Guest!  It's the amazing Christina from "It's a Keeper".  Christina's blog is FULL of awesome recipes.  Every Thursday she has a linky party where you can link up your 'keeper recipes'.  It's such a wealth of information-you'll never search for something to make for dinner again!

 So with a big round of applause, let's welcome Christina!_____________________________________________________________________________________Thank you, Leslie, for inviting me to guest post here at Try to Keep Up! My name is Christina and my blog is It's a Keeper. I love cooking and trying out new recipes. I have a huge pile of random recipes that I've collected over the years, and I'm cooking and baking my way through the pile and reporting back on whether or not the recipes are "keepers". Today, I'm sharing my recipe for Fire Roasted Panzanella. It's a Tuscan summer bread salad and its totally delish -- especially with fresh veggies from the farmer's market!

Fire Roasted Panzanella (Tuscan Summer Bread Salad)

6 slices of bakery Italian bread (I used Wegman's whole grain Pane bread)

1 red bell pepper, seeded

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded

1/2 red onion, sliced

2 large tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 English cucumber (unwaxed), seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces 3 Tbsp fresh basil, coarsly chopped

3 Tbsp fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

1 tsp garlic, finely minced

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

3 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Grill bread, bell peppers and red onion over medium-high heat until bread is brown and toasted on both sides and peppers and onions are slighly charred. Remove items from grill and cut into 1 inch pieces. Put in large bowl.
Meanwhile, chop tomatoes, cucumber, basil and parsley. Add to bowl with bread, peppers and onions.

In a small bowl whisk together vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper. Add garlic.
Pour vinaigrette over salad. Season liberally with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or allow to sit (at room temperature) for flavors to blend.

 
This recipe is definitely a keeper! I highly recommend grilling some up before the cool weather hits! I hope you’ll stop by and visit me as I share recipes, cooking tips and tricks on my blog, It's a Keeper. Thanks again for having me, Leslie. It was a pleasure.
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Holy Moley does that look delicious!  And what a great twist on a salad, not to mention it sounds like you could put this bad boy together in 30 minutes which is a total bonus.  I know I say this everytime someone guest posts but I can't WAIT to try this salad! Mmmmmm.  Thanks again Christina.