preposterously good panzanella

hooray! at long last i can post. thanks, amber. for my first trick, i’d like to post my panzanella recipe adapted from one the national restaurant was handing out at the athens farmers market a couple months ago. the best thing about panzanella is that almost any tasty vegetable would work in it. so go crazy. here goes…

ingredients:
6 cups of stale-ish baguette chopped crouton style
3 T olive oil
1 T fresh thyme (most fresh herbs work here. more than 1 t is probably better)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large onions, sliced thinly
2 T capers
1 C torn basil leaves
3-4 C of baby arugula
1 C fresh tomatoes, chopped (halved cherry or sungold tomatoes are perfect)
1/3 C mayonnaise (if you have more bread, add more mayo)
1 T red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar (add a little more if you increase the mayo)
directions:
toss bread with 2 T olive oil, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper–toast
in a 350 degree oven until golden brown, set aside to cool

in a saute pan, heat 1 T olive oil over medium heat, add onion and
saute until well caramelized, set aside to cool (to caramelize the
onion, i like to salt the onions once they go into the hot pan and
then sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar on them once the turn translucent)

in a small mixing bowl whisk mayo and vinegar together until smooth

in a large bowl combine everything and then add the mayo mixture

that’s it! happy eating…
dave