Strawberry Panzanella

A Panzanella is a simple salad of tomato,basil,olive oil and bread.These are the normal or traditional ingredients,though we can add anything or everything to this leftover salad or bread salad or pan molle as it is also known.These days I think apart from bread we can add or remove anything and any bread salad is also known as panzanella.Anyway,I found an innovative panzanella recipe at 101cookbooks where Heidi has made panzanella using fresh strawberries.

The recipe was very easy to make.I had few leftover slices of bread and I simply made it following the instructions without checking the estimate of ingredients.There is nothing much recipe to write about and so I have added more pics than usual.

Ingredients:

Day old bread :few slices or 1 loaf

Strawberries: as much as you like
Brown Sugar: 2 tbsp +

Preparation:
Toast the bread slices and cube them.
Chop/slice the strawberries and then in a bowl add half of them along with the sugar.

Turn into a chunky mash using masher or hand blender or hand or back of the ladle whatever you have.I used a mathu or wooden masher to crush them.This works when the berries are overripe.This is our vinaigrette and you can add as much sugar as you like to this.

Then add the cubed bread to these and mix well and serve with remaining sliced strawberries.

The recipe was a simple and tasty dessert .It is pretty flexible and you can add whatever other ingredients like spices or other fruits etc with this. Do check the original recipe for a richer salad and attractive presentation.

Taktouka-Moroccan Tomato Pepper Salad

This is a simple Moroccan style cooked salad which I had made from CookingwithAlia.The recipe is simple as usual and obviously tasty.The salad can also be used as a dip or spread or enjoyed as itself.

Ingredients:
Green Bell Pepper: 1
Tomatoes: 4-5medium or 2-3 Big juicy
Onion: 1 big
Garlic: 3 cloves or 2 tsp minced
Paprika
Pepper
Salt
Olive oil: 1 tbsp+

Preparation:
Chop onions finely.Chop the bell pepper into bite size pieces and gently peel the skin off tomatoes and chop them into pieces.The recipe did not say about peeling the skin but the video showed that the skin of tomatoes had to be peeled.

Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions and saute.As they start cooking,add the salt,pepper,paprika,minced garlic and saute.Cover and cook for a few minutes while the onions may start sweating and cook in their water.Remove the lid and add the chopped tomatoes.Mix well and cover and cook for another 8-10 minutes or so when the tomatoes start cooking and release juices.Add the chopped bell peppers and cover and cook for around 15-20 minutes till they are cooked.

If there is not enough tomato juice in the pan then you can add water as needed for the pepper to be cooked.

Taktouka is ready when all the liquid is absorbed and the peppers are cooked.Serve as a side salad or chunky dip or spread.

The dish was heartily spicy and I enjoyed it very much.It can be tried in the microwave as well.