Panzanella ♥ Week Two, Day Four - EatingWell Meal Plan

Italians love their bread, so much so that the crumbs from the table are stored in a container and fed to the chickens. It is a sin to waste bread.

While bread is a luxury for a Diabetic, throwing a few croutons into a salad is a great way to stretch your daily allotment. I have been testing a bread recipe all this week, so I had lots of stale bread in tow.

Even better would be to make your own and let them soak in a tangy salad dressing. The vinaigrette aids in the digestion of carbohydrates and inhibits the amount of insulin normally needed to break them down. A win-win of huge proportions!

Panzanella is a bread salad. There is no set rule of which vegetables to use but tomatoes, red onion and basil often find their way into the dish. I like to add hardy vegetables like cucumbers, peppers, radishes, olives and cubed fresh mozzarella. This way as the bread soaks in the dressing and the salad sits, the vegetables don't get soggy. Spoon the vegetables over a bed of peppery arugula and dig in.

We ate this a few hours before my Swiss Chard Arrabbiata Lasagna dinner (post to follow), but it can also be part of a roasted chicken dinner.

Panzanella
Makes: 4 servings

* 2 pounds ripe tomatoes
* Quarter cup finely chopped red onion
* 1/2 cup cucumber, cut into half moon slices
* 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, diced
2 radishes, thinly sliced
* Handful chopped walnuts
* Quarter cup chopped flat leaf parsley
* 3 tablespoons finely slivered fresh basil
* 4 cups torn bite-size pieces stale, crusty, whole wheat bread
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Cut larger tomatoes into wedges or chunks, cut any cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters. Add cucumber, radish, cheese and walnuts. Combine in a large bowl with onion, parsley and basil. And bread. Whisk oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Pour it over the salad and gently toss to coat the bread well.
Let stand for about five minutes before serving.

Per serving: 192 cal, 11 g fat (2 sat fat, 7 mono), 0 mg cholesterol, 21 g carbohydrate, 1 g added sugars, 4 g protein, 3 g fiber, 248 mg sodium, 418 mg potassium.

Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (41% dv), Vitamin A (31% dv), Folate (15% dv)