peach + tomato panzanella.

One of my favorite things: When I tell Daniel what I’m making and he whines about it … then he eats it, and loses his mind over how delicious it is.

How on earth could one whine after being presented to the thought of a luxurious bread salad – packed with fresh summer peaches, tomatoes,  arugula, basil, and blue cheese – you ask?

Well, it all started when I explained to him what a panzanella is … Traditionally, it’s an Italian bread and tomato salad where the chunks of stale bread soak up the juices from the tomatoes. From there, anything can be added – more veggies, dressing, etc. But none of that matters because I lost him at the whole bread-soaking-up-tomato-juices thing.

Some of you may recall that Daniel didn’t touch tomatoes for the first, say, 34 years of his life –  until I came along and corrected that nasty habit. (We met when Dan was 31/32, so it took me a while to get here.)

Dan’s issue with tomatoes is the texture – which is, I’m pretty sure, the issue for most people who don’t like tomatoes. It must be that, because there’s simply no way one could dislike the flavor of a beautiful summer tomato.

Summer is a keyword here and it also relates to the texture. If you’ve had tomatoes when not in season, you know they become mealy, undesirable, and lacking in flavor. This is the problem with tomato-haters: They simply haven’t been introduced to the right tomatoes!

Also, they may not have loving fiancées (!!!) like me to scoop the seeds out – those seeds and juices, while perfect for a salad like this, also account for texture issues.

Tomato juices or not, this salad is incredible. The dressing and remaining juices from the tomatoes and peaches still do plenty of work to the bread, so don’t you worry. I started by toasting my hearty multigrain bread chunks in olive oil, in effect making big, delicious croutons. Way tastier than stale bread on its own. And guess what? You can use any bread you like!

As for the rest – I swear to you guys, I’ve been psychopathic-ally dreaming of these flavors. I love peaches and tomatoes together, and then I coudn’t get my mind off of blue cheese. Peaches, tomatoes, blue cheese … BASIL! I was getting more and more excited, and when I thought to use these ingredients in a panzanella, which was a to-do on my recipe list for summer, I just about lost it.

It’s a recipe jackpot.

{And it worked out perfectly timing-wise, because today we did a “wild card” for The Food Matters Project. I initially planned for everyone to post a recipe we’ve already done that they might have missed, but some went ahead and did new recipes from the book they were dying to try – I like! And this panzanella would make M. Bitty proud, I think. Click here to see the recipes everyone else went for!}

Rest assured that if you don’t like blue cheese – I know you’re out there, too – you can use fresh mozzarella instead. I happen to adore peaches + tomatoes + mozzarella, so I consider that route to be equally dreamy.

It’s highly adaptable, so if you’ve got red onion and no shallots, you can still get to slicin’. No sherry vinegar? Me either – I just ran out after making this dressing, which is a travesty because I have a sick obsession with it and I just know I’m going to forget it the next time I go shopping. But not to worry! Break out your white wine vinegar instead.

The only non-negotiable is that you must enjoy this with a very cold bottle of {insert favorite white wine here}.

Yes, and you have to make this salad. Duh.