Summer Panzanella Salad

I'm welcoming in the warmer weather with some refreshing summer recipes! When it gets hot, I tend to not want to use the oven and heat up the kitchen.  Instead, I turn to a summer panzanella salad.  The great thing about this salad is that you can pretty much add whatever ingredients are in season.  For this one, I used peppers, cherry tomatoes, some oregano, parsley, fresh basil, bread (of course), and a homemade vinaigrette.

Ingredients:

-2 medium sized peppers

-1 pint of cherry tomatoes

-A bunch of fresh basil (grown locally in my kitchen!)

-2 tsp of parsley

-2 tsp of oregano

-2 Tbsp of olive oil

-1 1/2 Tbsp of red wine vinegar

-Pretzel stick bread (or any french bread- best if it's a few days old)

Directions:

Prepare and chop up the peppers and tomatoes to diced size pieces.  Meanwhile, cut the bread into cubes and toast them until they are lightly brown.  Combine the peppers, tomatoes, bread, oregano, parsley and chopped basil.  Add the olive oil and red wine vinegar and mix gently until the ingredients are well combined.  The salad is best served after a few hours so that the bread can soak up the dressing.  You can also add salt and pepper to taste.  Feel free to add red onion to your salad as well.  I chose to opt out but it definitely adds an extra punch!

Serve the salad by itself or with something prepared on your outdoor grill (grilled chicken, etc.) and sit back and relax, because you made this meal and now you can enjoy it!