Recipe: Tomato and Bread Salad with Lemon-Parsley Dressing

Recipe

Tomato and Bread Salad
with Lemon-Parsley Dressing

The dressing for this salad, a variation on the bread salads of Italy and the Middle East, is more acidic than most dressings because the high proportion of vinegar and lemon juice softens the bread perfectly. The dressing is also very garlicky, so if you 're not a garlic lover you might want to ease up on that ingredient a bit. Be sure you make the bread cubes large enough so that when you toast them they get crisp on the outside but stay soft on the inside. If you like roasted root vegetables, try dipping them in this dressing.

Serves 8 to 10

Best substitute greens: Watercress, Dandelion greens, Chicory, Escarole, Radicchio, Frisee, Curly endive, Tatsoi, Komatsu, Baby mustard, Baby turnip greens.

For the dressing:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

For the salad:

3 cucumbers, peeled if you want to, diced medium
3 large tomatoes, cored and diced medium
1 large red onion, peeled and diced medium
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata or other briny black olives
5 cups 1-inch bread cubes, toasted in a 350 degree F. oven
until browned, 10 to 15 minutes
3 bunches arugula, trimmed, washed, and dried
1 pound good-quality Parmesan cheese

1. In a medium bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients and whisk together.

2. Place all salad ingredients except the Parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Add enough dressing just to moisten the ingredients (you will have some dressing left over), toss well, and place on a large platter.

3. Using a cheese shaver or vegetable peeler, shave the Parmesan cheese over the top of the salad and serve.

Recipe from:
Lettuce in Your Kitchen
by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughy
William Morrow & Company, Inc.
1998, Softcover, US $10.00
Recipes & photos reprinted by permission