heirloom & cornbread panzanella salad
a very floridian dish.
Should you ever be lucky enough to find yourself in our nation’s oldest city, there’s a beautiful restaurant called The Floridian that has held a special place in my heart for the last 10+ years. Among the standout dishes: a heirloom tomato and cornbread panzanella salad served with a buttermilk dressing. All fuss, no muss, featuring the very best of summer produce.
In this at-home iteration, we stay true to the original recipe with a classic red wine vinaigrette and fresh-torn basil from the garden, but up the ante with leftover cornbread-turned croutons. If you don’t have any leftover cornbread lying around, a box of Jiffy corn muffins works great in a pinch.
Serves 1 as a main or 2 as a side
Ingredients:
2-3 slices of leftover cornbread, torn into chunks (or 4-5 baked muffins)
1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
1 large heirloom tomato (preferably from your local farmer’s market), sliced
Half a small cucumber, thinly sliced
Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
Red wine vinegar
Good-quality olive oil
Fresh mozzarella, torn
Process:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl you plan to serve the salad, add the red onions, half the torn basil leaves, a glug of olive oil, and a splash of red vinegar. Coat the onions in the oil and vinegar and set the bowl aside.
Strain the tomatoes and cucumbers in a colander or large mesh strainer and place it over the bowl with the onions. Season the tomatoes and cucumbers well with salt and pepper. The tomato and cucumber juice will drip below and make your future dressing!
While the tomatoes are sweating, toss your cornbread or muffins with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and bake until toasty–this will vary pretty significantly depending on your cornbread. For me, this took about half an hour! Just keep an eye on it.
Set the croutons aside to cool while you toss the tomatoes and cucumbers with the onions and season the salad to taste. If your tomatoes released too much liquid, feel free to reserve some of the excess dressing for future use!
Add as much fresh mozzarella as desired, plus your cornbread croutons.
Give the salad one final stir and garnish with the remaining basil leaves.
Enjoy immediately. Guten appetit!