A Tuscany Panzanella-inspired salad of bread, beans, and tomatoes with a savory tahini dressing! Try our Bean, Bread, Tomato Salad!
I have always loved recipes using bread, from bread soup, to bread pudding, and bread salads. Panzanella, a favorite from Tuscany is always a favorite. Panzanella mixes stale Italian bread with tomatoes, and other veggies like cucumbers and red onion, often with an oil and vinegar dressing.
This variation has all of that, and includes beans and a savory tahini dressing!
This is a salad version of Bean, Bread, and Tomato Casserole.
I hope you will love Bean, Bread, Tomato Salad!
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Ingredients
- Bread
- Beans
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Red onion
- Italian Parsley
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Tahini, Lemon, Garlic Dressing
See recipe card for quantities.
The bread is a very important part of this recipe. Pictured here is a rye sourdough that was magnificent, but any crusty bread will do. The bread was cubed and left out overnight to get stale.
Beans provide a concentrated protein source, along with fiber and a chewy texture. Pictured here are Christmas Limas, which have a wonderful chestnut flavor.
You want really ripe tomatoes for this dish. I used cherry tomatoes, but any tomato that is juicy and sweet will work. Use fresh tomatoes, canned ones just won't give the right vibe in this salad.
The cucumbers give a crisp, watery texture that lightens up the bread, beans, and tomatoes.
Italian parsley, you notice I use it a LOT! I love its nutty taste.
The red onion give a bite to the dish beyond the acid of the tomatoes.
The olive oil and balsamic vinegar give a base dressing popular with Italian salads which also provide some moisture to soften the bread cubes.
The tahini/lemon/garlic dressing take this salad into a different dimension from your typical panzanella. It provides a rich umami to the salad. Check out our Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce, which was used in this salad.
Instructions
Step 1: Spread the bread cubes on a tray. Leave out overnight or place in the oven at 175 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours.
Step 2: The bread cubes should shrink some and turn darker.
Step 3: Chop all the veggies and herbs.
Step 4: Place the beans, bread, and veggies into a bowl.
Step 5: Mix the contents of the bowl.
Step 6: Add the oil and vinegar and mix again.
The salad will be best if you let it sit for an hour or so which will let the bread soak of the vegetable juices and dressing. But you can also serve right away if you don't want to wait!
Substitutions
The dish can easily be made oil free. Consider a quick dressing of
- Balsamic vinegar
- Dijon or whole grain mustard
- Various Italian herbs
- Salt and Pepper
Replace the bread with a gluten free option.
Variations
Add hot peppers. I would add in Quick Pickled Hot Peppers.
Replace some of the parsley with fresh basil, mint, cilantro, or arugula, or all of the above!
Kalamata olives would give a salty blast of umami and smoky complexity to the dish.
Try Chermoula Sauce instead of the oil and vinegar. The picture above has a Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce.
Crumble a vegan feta or parmesan on the salad. You can use store bought plant-based feta or parmesan, I like Violife a lot. I usually make my own feta when I need it from the Gentle Chef's Mediterranean Herbed Feta, which takes only 5 minutes to make!
This dish used Christmas Limas, which I love for their chestnut flavor. But try other large beans like
- Royal Corona
- Scarlet Runners
- Ayocote Morado
- Canellini Beans
- Red Kidney Beans
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Chopping block
- Knife
- Large Bowl
- Spoon to mix the salad
- Measuring cup
Storage
Store the wet ingredients (lettuce, tomato, onion) separately from the dry ingredients (buns) in the fridge, and recombine when ready. Good for 2-3 days.
This salad will not freeze well. But hopefully it doesn't last long enough that you care!
Top Tip
Do let the salad sit for at least an hour. The longer the better, in fact, overnight will give the vegetable juices time to really seep into the bread.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
- Chickpea of the Sea
- Cabbage and Sauerkraut Slaw
- Asian Slaw with Almond/Ginger Dressing
- Seitan, Onion, Jalapeño Salad with Tahini Dressing
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Bean, Bread, Tomato Salad:
Recipe
Bean, Bread, Tomato Salad
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 chopping block
- 1 knife
- 1 large bowl
- 1 large spoon or silicon spatula for mixing the salad
- 1 measuring cup
Ingredients
- 4 cups cubed bread about 1 pound
- 2 cups tomatoes preferably cherry
- 1 medium cucumber
- 1 cup Italian parsley
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 ½ cups beans
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- The recipe time does not include making the beans or drying the bread.
- Cube the bread and spread out on a baking sheet. If you have time, leave it out the night before, if not put it in a low heat oven for a couple of hours. I like the bread cubes pretty dry when it goes in the salad, it makes it less soggy.
- Chop all the vegetables.
- Place all of the ingredients into a bowl except for the oil and vinegar. Mix well.
- Add the vinegar and oil. Also mix in salt and pepper. Mix well.
- The salad is ready at this point, but it would be even better if you let it sit for an hour or so.
- Enjoy!
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