How to make French bread and tomato salad.
In the land of baguettes, where a bakery is on every corner and bread is baked in a wood oven once and sometimes twice a day, where buying a baguette daily is as natural as breathing, having a day-old baguette around is expected.
Hence French Toast, or as they say in France, "Pain Perdu," a direct translation is "Lost Bread,"
was created as a dessert,
not for breakfast.
We live in a small town where the only fast food is the bakery and take-out pizza. To say I cook often is an understatement. Sure, there are a few restaurants in town, and I don't like to say it, but a food snob. I appreciate going to a restaurant if they can cook better than I can. Don't get me wrong, cooking better than me isn't hard to do, what I mean is if I am going to go to a restaurant I expect it to be good, which isn't hard to do in France but in our town that isn't the case.
With that said, when a baguette is sitting on my kitchen counter feeling sorry for itself because it can be used as a hammer, a tomato salad comes to the rescue instead of smeared with cheese.
The Recipe:
Chop half of a bowl full of fresh garden tomatoes.
Fill the other half with a dried hard baguette in bite-size pieces.
Add a few crushed garlic,
Two handfuls of fresh basil,
Two fresh balls of buffalo Mozzarella chopped,
Olive oil (about half a cup or more),
salt to taste,
and toss gently until good mix.
Cover and set aside.
This salad is at its best if it sets for about an hour; tossing it occasionally helps saturate the bread and flavors.
It can be kept in the refrigerator overnight and tossed before serving.
Fresh, wholesome ingredients, including a "sorry for itself" baguette, is simple fare.
A glass of rose adds the voila to the meal.
What is your favorite summer salad? And do you like to cook?
Leave a Reply