Vegan Panzanella
Ingredients:
Half a loaf of vegan ciabatta or crusty vegan sourdough bread
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt
Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon of dried oregano, plus a little more extra for garnish later on
1 large clove garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon of fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Salad
200g of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large
1 cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds
150g of Angel Food Dairy-Free Mozzarella Cheese (tear into bite-sized pieces)
⅓ cup roughly chopped fresh basil (about 20g)
2 tablespoons of thinly sliced Kalamata olives and/or capers
Steps to make Steps to make Vegan Panzanella
To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 220°C.
Slice the loaf into small bite-sized cubes and place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil on the cubes and sprinkle them with salt. Toss thoroughly and bake until deeply golden, about 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare your salad dressing by combining the olive oil, vinegar, oregano, garlic, salt, and a generous amount of black pepper in a bowl. Whisk until combined.
Add the sliced onions to the dressing and then place the bowl in the refrigerator so that the onions become lightly pickled.
To make the salad: add the tomatoes to a large serving platter. Nestle half of the croutons in between the tomatoes, and place the rest on top. Add the cucumber and Angel Food Dairy-Free Mozzarella all over the salad.
Distribute the lightly pickled onions all over the salad. Give the remaining dressing a stir before drizzling it over the salad. Sprinkle the basil and olives and/or capers on top, followed by a light sprinkling of extra black pepper and dried oregano.
Serve the Panzanella fresh for crispy croutons or let the salad marinate for 20 minutes (or up to 1 hour) beforehand to soak up all the delicious flavours.
