Recipe: Cornbread Panzanella Salad

Few things hit the spot like a great salad on a hot August day. One of our favorite summer salads has already been perfected by not one, but two chefs in Great Barrington — Daire Rooney of the Mezze Restaurant Group and Steve Browning at Prairie Whale. They have different approaches to the dish, but our reaction is always the same; when we see a panzanella salad on either of their menus, we just have to order it.

But sometimes you just want to stay in and make your own, right? Luckily, with panzanella, you can’t go wrong. Just grab a few fresh ingredients, throw ‘em together and you’ve got a bright and satisfying classic summer side dish.


This salad is simple, but also highly adaptable. Don’t like cucumbers? Leave them out. Have some beautiful sweet peppers? Toss them in. Whether you’re picnicking at Tanglewood, dropping by a summer potluck, or just feeling lazy, this salad promises to deliver.

Cornbread Panzanella Salad

+ 4 generous cups of cornbread, cut into 1 inch cubes
+ 2 lbs. heirloom tomatoes, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
+ 1 fresh tropea onion, minced or 1 shallot, peeled and minced
+ 1 or 2 cucumbers, sliced and chopped
+ 5 tablespoons olive oil
+ Sea salt (something flaky like Maldon is best)
+ Frreshly ground pepper
+ 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
+ 4-5 oz. good mozzarella, chopped into ½-inch pieces
+ 1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped

1. Lay the cornbread cubes out on a baking sheet and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of olive oil on top. Toss until the pieces are generally covered, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake in a 400° oven for 10 minutes, gently stirring once or twice, until toasted.
2. In a large serving bowl, mix the tomatoes, onions or shallots, cucumbers, vinegar, remaining olive oil, and cheese. Add cornbread cubes and mozzarella, some salt and pepper, and toss.
3. Let sit for 20 minutes or so, then serve.

Note: This recipe originally appeared on RuralIntelligence.com on August 10, 2015. It's been back-dated here on our blog so that it falls, seasonally, in the right place. 

Recipe: Spring Cobb Salad

While we’re still working on planting our own garden, we’ve been lucky to have full access to Jake’s father Tom’s bountiful veggie plot. This season, his radish crop in particular has been out of control! Every day there are more and more brightly colored orbs popping out of the ground. And we have been eating them every way we know how - sprinkled with salt, on buttered bread, poached in herb butter and sliced thinly on top of salads. 

The garden is also supplying us with a steady stream of lettuce, and since the weather is warm and we are working longer days dinner is often a big salad, paired with some butter- or Monterey Chevre-slathered bread. One of our favorites is what we’ve come to call our “Spring Cobb Salad” – crispy lettuce, spicy radishes, fresh backyard eggs, Meat Market bacon, some sharp cheese and a fancier-than-usual dressing – made almost entirely of things we can see from our kitchen window! 

Spring Cobb Salad

For the salad:
+ 4 oz of crumbly blue cheese or sharp cheddar
+ ½ lbs of thick bacon cut into chunks and fried
+ 6 eggs, medium boiled and sliced
+ 1 bunch of radishes, sliced into rounds
+ 2 heads of romaine lettuce, ripped into reasonably forkable-sized pieces

For the dressing:
+ 2 oz blue cheese
+ 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
+ 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
+ 1 tsp Dijon mustard
+ 1 clove of garlic crushed and minced
+ 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Prepare each of the individual ingredients for the salad.
2. In a large shallow serving platter lay down a bed of the lettuce.
3. Arrange the cheese, bacon, eggs, and radishes in rows over the bed of lettuce for a pretty display.
4. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the dressing. Serve with bread and butter.

Recipe: Spinach Salad with Apples & Cheddar

Warmer weather is creeping in, but spring produce has yet to sprout. This leaves us with a pretty constant hankering for lighter fare. Enough with the roasts and braises, give us greens! ...That is, until the next time this crazy weather ricochets back to colder temperatures.

Recently, Silka has become obsessed with hearty spinach and apple salad. It's a classic combination - greens, apples, some cheese and a handful of nuts - and a perfect way to give a little lift to these late winter/early spring meals. We've probably made the salad 5 times in the last month, each time with a few improvements. First, we made the genius decision (if we do say so ourselves) to fry almonds, our nut of choice, in bacon fat. Next, thanks to the helpful people at Race Farms, we concluded that Fuji's were the best apple for the job. And finally we discovered THE cheese to bring it all together: the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar from The Cellars at Jasper Hill. We suggest you run out and get some...NOW!

Spinach Salad with Apples and Cheddar

Salad:

1 generous handful of raw almonds

1 tsp bacon fat (or a little butter, if you'd like to keep it vegetarian)

1 1/2 lbs spinach - we like regular, but baby would work fine as well

2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese, cut or broken into chunks

1 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced - Fujis are great for this!

Dressing:

+ 1/2 cup olive oil

+ 1 tbsp soy sauce

+ 2 tbsp vinegar - we like apple cider vinegar

+ 2 tsp dijon mustard

+ 2 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Heat the bacon fat (or butter) in a small pan on medium heat. Once melted, add the almonds. Shake the pan to coat the almonds with the fat. Cook for 5 minutes, shaking the pan every minute or so.

2. While the almonds are cooking, assemble the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients together and set aside.

3. When the almonds are done, spread them on a cutting board. Let them sit for a couple minutes then chop coarsely and add to the salad.

4. Toss with enough dressing to coat, and serve!

Serves 4 as a side or appetizer salad.