Sunday, October 3, 2010

Greek Panzanella

A couple of weeks ago we were having company over for dinner. I always analyze and then over analyze what I should make when people come to dinner. I never know if our way of eating will satisfy someone else's taste, so I get a little crazy about it.
I think about food all the time anyway, so I really just spend too much time thinking, planning, undoing my plans, and re-planning.

It's a process.

I finally narrowed it down to a menu that would savor the last of summer fall-ish type dinner. Since we were still enjoying 90+ degree days and all my favorite summer foods were still readily found at the farmers market, we went with the summer menu.

I wanted to try this Greek twist on The Barefoot Contessa's Panzanella, because the original version is a crowd pleaser that we love.
It turned out to be the perfect choice. Everyone was really happy with this dinner. Phew!

* note--I always toast my bread cubes in the oven, drizzling them with a little bit of olive oil, to get them nice and crisp and also to reduce some of the fat in this meal. I also reduce the amount of oil in the dressing.

Recipe for Greek Panzanella
* I used black olives instead of kalamata olives
* I toasted my bread cubes in the oven instead of sauteing them in oil- it uses less oil and gets them evenly crisped
*I reduced the amount of oil in the dressing by about half
* I left out the red onion

8 comments:

Lisa said...

I've never had panzanella, but it looks delicious! I love Greek food so I'm sure I'd love this!

Pamela said...

Wow...it looks so tempting and yummy!

Unknown said...

Great tips, looks tasty!

Lisa said...

That looks so bright and delicious. I love Greek flavors and imagine that they would be amazing in panzanella.

Kerstin said...

I tend to obsess about dinner party menus too! This looks like it would be a huge hit - yum!

Jamie said...

I love this salad and I need to make it again. I like how you put the bread cubes in the oven because I sauteed mine and you do need more oil to get them crispy. I'm sure your company loved it.

Peggy said...

I've been wanting to try panzanella for quite some time. Thanks for the reminder, although I don't think mine will turn out nearly as gorgeous as yours!

Anonymous said...

Linked to your blog from Tastespotting.com - great photo made made me hungry! I had to laugh about how you agonize over the menue - redoing/undoing/redoing again - I do the SAME thing when the bottom line is most people are just happy for you to cook for them no matter what you serve! I am curious..what else did you serve with this? Or, was it alight dinner with salad as the entree?