Roasted Panzanella Salad

Tomatoes are still flurrying about in all kinds of shapes and sizes around here, and one of my favorites is the orange cherry tomato. So sweet, I just keep popping them in my mouth until suddenly the green paper container is empty, except for some shriveled green leaf tops.

It is getting a bit cooler at night, so instead of a fresh salad of tomatoes, Panzanella-style, I opted to roast the salad ingredients. I love warm salads, but if you’re still craving a cool salad, no need to roast these ingredients – just prepare them and toss with the dressing and add croutons.

If you want a grain-free crouton recipe, try my Herb Parmesan cheese version of croutons. For reference, I have a similar crouton recipe here. Or, if you want to use gluten-free bread for this salad, spray or rub it with oil and garlic, lightly grill or toast the pieces, and then dice them into croutons.

The dressing is very optional, and I find I don’t need or want it most of the time because the roasted fruit and veggies are bursting with enough flavor. But if you want it, it’s at the end of the post.

Tip This salad makes a great pizza topping, or addition to other salads with lettuce and cheese sprinkled on top. Store it in the refrigerator for about a week, and add to various dishes when the moment inspires you.

Roasted Panzanella Salad (2 servings)

Roasted Fruit and Veggies

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, tomatoes sliced in half (or substitute with other diced tomatoes)
1 red, yellow, or orange pepper, sliced into small strips
half of a medium red onion, sliced into small strips
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon of honey
2 tablespoons of olive oil (or other oil; melted ghee is good because it has a higher smoke point than olive oil, although I love olive oil; you can lower the heat and bake longer since olive oil’s smoke point is 320 degrees F).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and blend well.
Spread the mixture on a non-stick surface or parchment paper and bake for 35 minutes, or until the edges start to shrink and brown a bit.
Serve, or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Gluten-free Bread Croutons

4 slices of gluten-free bread
1 tablespoon of olive oil
sea salt, garlic powder (or a fresh clove of crushed garlic) and other seasonings

Slice the bread into cubes and blend with olive oil, salt, and seasonings. Spread out bread cubes across a cookie sheet and bake/toast at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes, or until they start to brown.

Herb Parmesan Croutons

2 cups of almond flour
2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt (optional – there’s salt in Parmesan cheese already)
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
handful of fresh herb leaves: thyme, basil, oregano (or sub 1/2 teaspoon of each dried herb)
3 tablespoons or so of cold water to hold the dough together

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Pulse all the ingredients together in a food processor or blender until the herbs are well chopped and blended in.
You can either roll the dough into two balls and roll them out, or spread the crumbly dough pieces across the non-stick surface you’re baking on (non-stick mat or parchment paper).
Gently roll out the dough and then score the dough with a pizza cutter or knife to make crouton squares. Doing this will make it easy to break them apart once they are baked and cooled.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until croutons are lightly browned.