Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Oregon Coast


















Whenever we get a chance we go to the beach when visiting our family. It is only 2 hours away and the kids always have such a great time. We had a wonderful day with the in-laws, brother, sister in law and cousins at the beach. We spent a full day playing in the water, flying kites and building sand castles. The day is not complete until you have Tillamook Ice-cream. The Tillamook Cheese Factory is 40 miles from Cannon Beach. We had perfect weather with a light wind. We still all ended up burned somehow?

I am a little late in posting my recipe for the barefoot bloggers. Melissa of http://www.itsmelissaskitchen.blogspot.com/ chose the recipe for Panzanella. I made the recipe last night. It was awesome! I loved the chunks of onions and cucumber mixed with tomatoes. I used grape tomatoes and cut them in half. I also added some cheese. I wanted to put feta in but was out of it. I had a 5 mix Italian blend that I used instead. We had this with grilled turkey burgers. I have had a recipe like this from Cuisineathome before. They both have wonderful flavours! I loved the garlic in the dressing. I would use the dressing to marinate chicken breast

This was a great summer recipe. It was light and tasty without being too filling. My husband was hungry again later on in the evening and was ready for a second dinner : ) Here is the recipe below.
Panzanella
3 tablespoons good olive oil 1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes 1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced 20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped 3 tablespoons capers, drained
For the vinaigrette: 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar 1/2 cup good olive oil 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.
For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together.
In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

1 comment:

Ellyn said...

I'm so bad...I haven't made mine yet! I'll have to get it done early next week. I'm glad to see you are back home! When does all your stuff arrive? Anyday now right?

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