Heirloom Tomato Panzanella

I picked up these heirloom tomatoes last weekend at the Fargo-Moorhead farmer's market - I'm not sure what the varieties are, but each had a different character. My favorites were a mottled red and green on the inside, and were sweeter than any tomato I've ever had - sorry I don't know the variety, because I'd love to recommend it :)

Panzanella is an Italian dish built around stale bread, tomatoes, and other veggies. I based my version on a simple and elegant take by Lidia Bastianich, in a short piece she did for Time magazine a couple months ago. It's about ways to recycle old bread, instead of tossing it out. Here's my panzanella, featuring cubes from a loaf of multigrain bread a little past its prime.

In addition to the tomatoes, we have some thin sliced cucumbers, red onion, and fresh basil. For seasoning I used about 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, about the same amount of red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper. That's all there is to it - everything is tossed together, and left to mingle for at least 10 minutes. My bread cubes were very dry, so I recommend a little more time if that's the case. Even with very dry and hard bread, the oil and vinegar will moisten the bread and add great flavor. Here's another pic, just because I like this so much.

Continuing the non-cooking theme, I made another fun recipe from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. This is one of her breakfast scrambles - raw almonds and sunflower seeds, ground and mixed with water and turmeric for that great color. Delicious stuff, mixed with tomatoes, mushrooms, and fresh basil, rosemary, and Italian parsley.