I love how the foods we eat, or should eat, follow a cycle. It’s a continuum and it’s so lovely to eat in a way that follows that continuum. For example, peaches and tomatoes, when they first reach our farmers markets , they have a certain taste. They’re not as sweet and work well in certain dishes. But as the summer progresses and these fruits get sweeter and sweeter they become more suitable for other dishes. I also love how this blog will follow a continuum, preparing foods that follow the seasons and piggy back each other from week to week.

Last week, I cooked up a grilled balsamic chicken with peaches and sorrel on toasted ciabatta. This week, I’m taking a little bit of that ciabatta that is nice and crunchy with a a leftover peach that’s almost about to be tossed and throwing it into a panzanella or tuscan bread salad. I also like this dish because it serves as a great side to roast chicken, pork chops, or even hamburgers off the grill. It’s also a perfect go-to dish if you’re cooking for 1. I’ve made this recipe for 1 serving, but you can obviously double it or do whatever you’d like. 

Tomato + Peach Panzanella

servings :1       total time : 15 minutes

• 1/2 Watsonia Peach, diced
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup cubed day old H&F bread
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS balsamic vinegar
• 2 TBS Basil, finely chopped and divided
• 1 tsp scallions, finely chopped
• salt + pepper to taste

1. Put chopped bread, tomatoes, and peaches in a small mixing bowl. Add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix ingredients until everything is well coated.
2. At this point you serve as is, garnishing with remaining basil and scallions. OR
3. Heat 1 more TBS of olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Once it’s hot, place salad ingredients in pan and quickly sauté for about 2-3 minutes. This allows the juices to come out and really soak the bead and who doesn’t love a juicy salad?! Garnish with basil and scallions*.

* Some other ingredients that are awesome in a panzanella along with the tomatoes and bread are onions, capers, burrata cheese or goat cheese, watermelon, uncooked greens, olives, cucumbers, mint, peppers, etc. The list is endless. It’s such a fun, creative salad. And it’s great to do with kids since it doesn’t require heat.

Cheers to a new week, and we hope to see you at the Markets and in the kitchen!!