Barefoot Bloggers-Panzanella

I am always amazed at how simple and delicious these Barefoot recipes turn out. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting to like this one so much. I have heard of it before, but never tried it, so I thought that bread salad might be strange. Oh, how wrong I was! This was delicious. Homemade croutons, essentially, with tons of fresh veggies and a wonderful vinaigrette- WOW! We loved it. I did make a few changes- I reduced the amount of oil that was used to saute the bread cubes to 1 1/2 Tbls, used white wine vinegar in the vinaigrette (Thanks Anne!), used an English cucumber, and reduced the amount of oil in the vinaigrette to 1/3 cup. Delicious! Go check out how the other Barefoot Bloggers felt about this one!
This was chosen by Melissa of It's Melissa's Kitchen
Panzanella
Copyright 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, All Rights Reserved
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced
1/2-inch thick 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained
For the vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.
For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together.
In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.