Quick & Easy Panzanella

One of my favorite summer dishes is Panzanella, an Italian tomato salad that includes bread, fresh mozzarella cheese and really any variety of summer veggies you want. This is my summer staple for hot summer nights.

This week, I couldn't resist a pint of multi-colored cherry tomatoes that were at the Belmont Farmers' Market. They were so sweet, I'm actually kind of surprised there were any left for the salad by the time dinner came around. Good thing Picky Eater doesn't like fresh tomatoes (practically a sin!) more for me. I also managed to snag the last ball of fresh mozzarella from the cheese vendor getting ready to pack up his bay for the day...and the last baguette from the baker. Talk about timing. Panzanella was in the stars.


Panzanella is great because it's so versatile. It's been called "leftover salad" and for good measure. Got a piece of red onion in the fridge? Chop it up and throw it in the bowl. Cucumber? Sure, why not. Celery, bell peppers, boiled eggs, garlic, onion, tuna, chicken, lettuce and carrots are just a few on a long list of summer favorites that can find themselves tossed in Panzanella.


This time around, I wasn't in the mood for anything crazy. No bite of vinegar, no garlic or onion breath either. Just a simple salad infused with the flavors of basil and olive oil.

Quick & Easy Panzanella

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large ball fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
1 small baguette, cubed
5-10 fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium size bowl, combine all ingredients and toss until coated with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve, toss salad and add additional oil or salt and pepper to taste, if desired.


Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

Bread is Back, Part Deux.

Welcome new readers! I've heard some rumblings that this little blog is garnering a following.

Special props to Zoe for taking the time out of her busy book/event schedule to comment. It's social media in action, people! Get in the conversation!

Due to popular demand and choosing to be mindful of blatant plagarism, I suggest y'all take a trip over to the New York Times site to read a November 2007 review of "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day," which includes the master recipe. You can find it here. Hell, go to Amazon.com and buy the book! Sometimes you just gotta spend a little money to save a little money, people.

Anyway, the "master" recipe for bread is included via a link on the left side of the article. Play around with the amount of yeast and salt according to your particular tastes (I prefer less salt AND less yeast, and the recipe works out just fine). Depending on what kind of flour you use, you might need to add a little extra (1/4 cup or so) to balance out the recipe (in a nerdy, Alton Brown-esque nutshell, different brands of flour contain different amounts of protein, which can affect how moist the dough is).

Good luck in your bread endeavors, Vieve. If you find yourself in a sticky, doughy mess, you know to who call!

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

Bread is back!

Lets talk bread -- artisan bread, that is. Locally, brands like Iggy's and When Pigs Fly are relatively easy to find in your neighborhood supermarket. But lets face it, times are getting tough and the cost of gas is driving up the cost of grain and we're all looking to pinch a few pennies here and there. So, why not try baking bread at home?

Now, I know what you're thinking. You have a mental picture of flour coating every surface your kitchen, fingers stuck together with dried dough, and a malformed blob of dough in the oven which inevitably comes out looking and tasting like a brick when its done.

Enter the bestseller "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day," by the grand pooh-bahs of all things home-baking, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. Their recipes for no-knead refridgerator doughs are phenomenal and best of all, require very little work with great results. After making (and NOT kneading) the dough, you can store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks -- and the dough, like fine wine, gets better with age. All you do to make bread is cut off a piece, shape it into a ball and let it rest for 40 minutes before baking.

This weekend will certainly include some bread baking, so keep your eyes peeled (and your stomachs growling) for some pics.

In the meantime, take a gander over to Jeff and Zoe's blog to learn more (they're all hip and social-media savvy themselves).

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.