Happy summer, foodies! It’s been a very chaotic season for me, hence the sporadic postings. We have officially made the transition from Austin to Houston and I’m absolutely loving it so far. Don’t get me wrong, Austin will always be home and my favorite city in Texas, but this Houston! Talk about a food scene. I haven’t really been cooking much lately because a) moving is rough (where is my freaking immersion blender? for the love…) and b) so.many.good.restaurants!
Anyhow, I’m starting to reel it back in for my waistline and my wallet’s sake and have been obsessing over simple salads like this tomato and peach panzanella. This will take you all of 10 minutes (if that). It’s a quintessential summer salad that catapults me right back to Italy in the summertime. What more do you need? Just don’t skimp on the ingredients here, seeing as there are so few.
Buen provecho, y’all!
- 1.5 pounds variety of vine-ripened tomatoes (heirloom, cherry, etc)
- 3 peaches, sliced
- ½ loaf ciabatta bread, cut into thick slices
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and whole
- 4 Tablespoons high quality extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons good balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- several sprigs fresh basil, leaves removed
- Cut any large tomatoes into strips or slices and smaller tomatoes into halves. Add to a large serving bowl or platter. Cut peaches and toss with tomatoes.
- Drizzle or brush ~1 Tablespoon olive oil onto bread slices. Use a grill pan or a grill on medium heat to toast the bread ~2 minutes on each side. Rub raw garlic on both sides of grilled bread. Tear or cut bread into small cubes and mix with the tomatoes and peaches.
- Drizzle remaining olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add in basil leaves and season generously to taste with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and serve immediately.
Looks great. Kay loves summer peaches. We will have to make it.