Heirloom Panzanella salad

 
It is very hard to balance out all of the traditional heavy Thanksgiving meal dishes.  Between the candied yams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and other hefty sides it seems like we just can't make a light meal out of this traditional feast.  One thing we often overlook and seldom consider is a light salad.  The fall is a great time to enjoy some fresh seasonal produce and heirloom tomatoes can still be found during this time of year, so to balance out your holiday meal I suggest a fairly simple panzanella salad (bread salad).  Now don't worry if you can't find heirloom tomatoes... some vine ripe red tomatoes , green tomatoes and cherry tomatoes will be just fine.    So here we go.

What you'll need:

• 2 french baguettes or any bread of your choice.  Spiced or herb breads are great as well
• 2lbs heirloom tomatoes or tomatoes available in your area
• 10-12 fresh Annabella Buffalo Mozzarella cheese            
• tsp garlic powder
• 1tbsp coarse salt
• Fresh Basil leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped olives
• 1/2 cup chipped red onion
• 1/4 cup EVO
• 1/2 cup Pomegranate juice or extract
• Olive oil cooking spray

Cut your bread into squares, though I prefer to just tear it off into small chunks for a more rustic look.  Place in a bowl and spray lightly with Olive oil cooking spray.  Throw in the salt and garlic powder and toss around to get a very light coating on all the brad pieces. Place on  non-stick baking sheet and put in the oven for about 10 minutes or until they start to toast at about 350°
While the bread does it's think, cut up tomatoes into decent sized chunks and slice the Annabella buffalo  mozzarella into about 1/4" slices.  Cut or chop basil leaves into about 1/4 pieces.  Place in a large bowl and mix together.  In a separate cup or small bowl combine pomegranate and olive oil, add a pinch of salt and pepper and whisk to make a vinaigrette.  Drizzle the vinaigrette on the items in the bowl and toss around.  You don't need to add all of it unless you like a really heavy dressing, I prefer to just coat the ingredients but it's your call.
Once the bread is done, remove from the oven and add to the rest of the salad mixture and tossing lightly.  I add the bread AFTER the dressing because I like the contrast of the crunch.  While the bread will absorb some of the vinaigrette, I found if I add the vinaigrette after the bread, then the bread chucks don't stay as crunchy... so it's a matter of preference.  Either way your salad is ready to go and will be the envy of every casserole, yam and cranberry sauce jelly at dinner.

You can check out more about Annabella Creamery and their awesome buffalo mozzarella on their website or Facebook page

Have a great Thanksgiving and thank you for reading!!!