What do you do with leftover stale bread? Why you make a salad, of course!

There is little that’s more frustrating to find in a kitchen than a half loaf of stiffening French, Italian, or even old fashioned white bread. Too hard for sandwiches, or even for toast, and not quite a doorstop either. So how do you turn this lemon-like situation into lemonade? You make bread salad that will win you raves from everyone, who will marvel at your creativity, ingenuity, and resourcefulness—better still, because you aren’t wasting the bread, it’s a “green” salad even though there’s not a shred of any kind of lettuce or cabbage anywhere in the recipe. (Ok, there is some fresh basil, gimme’ a break!)Take all the credit…it will be our little “secret”…

Ingredients
2 cups of stale bread cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
1 roasted red or yellow pepper, peeled and cut into ¼ inch wide strips, then halved crosswise
8-12 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 fresh Roma or Plum tomatoes, cut into 1 inch slices and then quartered
½ large red union, cut into 1 inch slices, the quartered
Salt
Pepper

Assembly
Combine all ingredients into a large bowl, drizzle with 2-3 tbs of fresh balsamic vinaigrette, toss together to coat evenly, cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Remove and serve.

Dressing
In a blender combine:
1 clove garlic
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
Blend on medium or high until smooth and opaque. Taste and if to sharp, add a bit of oil, and if to bland add a bit of balsamic vinegar….

Options
Add ½ cup of diced mozzarella cheese to the salad mix
Use bottled balsamic dressing instead of freshly made
Use large croutons when you have no stale bread
Use fresh bread you toast lightly in a 350° oven for 3-4 minutes, then remove to cool before adding to the salad
Add ½ cup of peeled, seeded, chopped cucumber to the salad.
See how smart you are?