Today, the chaos of moving began. Recently I’ve moved far too often, yet somehow by the time my lease is up for renewal, I’ve since forgetting about the utter inconvenience of packing up one’s life.  In a matter of hours, my house went from a livable mess to boxed chaos.

In efforts to pack and relax, I whipped up Smitten Kitchen’s Summer’s Last Hurrah Panzanella. This is a deliciously light recipe and pairs well with a glass of crisp white wine.  Also, it is simply beautiful.

The ingredients

For the Salad
3 Tbs olive oil
1  French bread loaf cut into cubes (6 cups)
1 tsp salt
2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into  cubes
1  cucumber, sliced
2 bell peppers, seeded and cubed 
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves chopped


For the vinaigrette
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons  citrus champagne vinegar (or regular) 
1/3 cup good olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1) Prepare veggies place in large bowl.

Veggies, chopped and ready

2) Chop bread, heat oil in a large pan, then add bread and 1 tsp salt. Cook for about 10 minutes while stirring until toasted.

Cube the bread, I cut the slice in half, they were big but fun to eat!

3) While the bread toasts, mix up the vinigerate.

4) Combine and serve!