Recipe of the Day: Giada's Italian Panzanella Salad| Everyday Italian | Food Network

Last year I went to a spa in Arizona and I fell in love with this rustic salad that I had and it reminded me of one of my all-time Italian favorites, Panzanella salad, which is basically an Italian bread salad. There we go. So I've taken whole wheat bread and cut it into about one inch cubes and I'm going to spread it out and to that I'm also going to add of course some veggies, some artichokes. So you thaw them out and then to give them some flavor we're going to grill it all. So a little bit of olive oil, just a tad, just to kind of moisten everything, just like that and then you just want to toss it all together. I'm going to put it on a hot grill pan. You can hear that sizzling, that's what you want and that'll give you nice grill marks and a little bit of that smoky flavor. With the tongs you just want to even it all out. The bread and artichokes are looking good. All right so to my whole wheat Panzanella salad I'm also going to add some black olives. I happen to adore black olives. Now you could add green olives if you want to or kalamata olives but there's something about black olives, they're very tender and slightly sweet. So you just want to cut them in half. You want to get pitted black olives. I want to keep everything kind of like a rough chop, everything sort of the same size. Okay so now put the olives in there. We're also going to add some tomatoes. Now tomatoes are one of those traditional ingredients in Panzanella salad so kind of have to have it and they add sweetness, a little crispness and lots of color. And then cut them in wedges. So tomatoes are done. Now got to have some freshness. Of course it's a spa salad after all, and some clean herby tastes and flavors. Fresh and clean tasting. Nice colors. We've got all of that. Now taking the bread and the artichokes and the warmth from the bread and the artichokes just heats up all the rest of the ingredients and it brings out the flavor of the tomatoes and the olives and then we put the dressing over it. It's going to help absorb everything. So now I'm going to make the dressing and I'm going to keep it really simple. Some white wine vinegar and it's very light so it's perfect for this salad. It won't overpower the rest of the flavors in the salad. We're also going to add a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Not too much, just a little. Remember this kind of oil is good for you and you need it to keep your skin, your hair, everything looking so vibrant and beautiful and of course very Italian. Give it a nice little whisk. Very easy dressing. A little bit of salt and some freshly ground black pepper just to finish off the seasoning. Make sure the salad's got enough salt and pepper in it and just pour it right over the top. Everything will just absorb the dressing. You just want to toss it so everything kind of gets combined. Crunchy bread, really good. Got a little bit of a black olive in there, a little sweetness and that artichoke.