A fun take on a tomato and bread based salad, we’re going with all things green. Cucumber, avocado, artichokes, and parsley make up the lovely green colour in this panzanella salad. The bread is moistened with the vinaigrette the vegetables are tossed in, and the spicy sausage pops in the dish. Easy made as a side or a main course, this panzanella is filling and refreshing for a hot day.

Last week we had an intense heatwave here in Southern California. It was…well…fun. Triple digits high and with humidity. It was hot enough that some of the schools were closing half day due to classroom conditions.

To top everything off, my oven was broken. Although, this could be a blessing I suppose…Who wants to cook on the stove or in the oven in 107 degree weather? This left us with salads and grilled food for the week.

Once we had the oven fixed, I was ecstatic to have my old friend back again and planned on making some pumpkin cookies. I made the genius comment, “how are people surviving without air conditioning?”–then what happened to break a couple hours later? That’s right, the AC. It’s still broken in case you were wondering, but thankfully it has cooled down a small bit. It’s still too hot in the house to make cookies though. I am really, really, looking forward to the cooler months.

Anyway, enough talk. On to the panzanella salad!

Spicy Sausage Panzanella

Print Recipe

Description

A spicy and savory salad that can be a side or main dish.

Ingredients

4–5 Spicy Italian sausage links, grilled and sliced
1 loaf of Ciabatta bread, cubed
1 can of Artichoke hearts, drained and cut in half
1 Cucumber, peeled and sliced (I only peeled a few strips of the skin off and left the rest)
1 Avocado, diced
1 cup of Flat leaf parsley, diced
3 Green onions, chopped
1/2 cup of Extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Red wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Prepare all ingredients and combine vegetables in a large bowl.
Mix extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar together to make dressing and pour half the mixture over the vegetables.
Toss.
Fold in sausage and cubed bread, and slowly add the rest of the dressing.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy 🙂

Notes

*If you’d like to have a bit of crunch to your salad, toast your cubed bread on a cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes. You can also use day old bread that has staled some.