Leftover Salad

Food.

I love to recipe test, but sometimes my grocery list can get out of control purchasing a little bit of this and a little bit of that for so many different dishes. So many of the best dishes came out of necessity from family kitchens where wasting leftover foods simply wasn't an option. One of my favorite examples of that is Panzanella Salad.

Panzanella is basically an assortment of roughly chopped veggies, leftover bread (toasted into large croutons) and vinaigrette. The bread soaks up the vinaigrette and the veggies create a fresh balance that's just delicious.



And though there are many great recipes for it (of course I love Ina Garten's!), you can just as easily shop through your refrigerator at the end of the week and use up what's left over to create your own.

Here are some of the leftovers that I've used in assorted panzanellas over the years :

cherry tomatoes
onion
cucumber
capers
watermelon
bell peppers
basil
flat leaf parsley
kalamata olives
cauliflower
broccoli
mushrooms
artichoke hearts
feta
shards of parmesan
roasted peppers

There really are endless possibilities. Just open up your crisper and start chopping...it's truly delicious.