Heirloom Tomato Panzanella

Thank you all for the great anniversary wishes! We had another spectacular dinner with a six course tasting menu at Craigie on Main. . . and I left the camera at home! The food was so delicious, the wine perfectly paired, and as much as I wished I had my camera, I wanted to take the night off from being a food blogger! My favorite course was the arctic char, a most perfectly cooked, melt in your mouth, fatty fish, completely delicious. But everything was amazing, and the service completely perfect. I love how Craigie is fancy and casual at the same time, not pretentious but not quite homey either. I just love it.

Anyway, today’s recipe takes advantage of my most beloved summer fruit, the heirloom tomato. I can not get enough of their quirkiness, their bold, beautiful colors, and the freshness these tomatoes offer. I will be very sad when they are gone.

For yesterday’s dinner (husband’s side dish) I started with a baguette that I bought and left out on Sunday. Three days later it was nice and hard and ready to be part of an heirloom tomato panzanella.

A variety of heirloom tomatoes, washed and cut into chunks, made the colorful portion of the dish.

For some flavor and crunch I added in a bit of chopped red onion, no more than 1/4 of a cup.

And of course there was cheese, goat to be exact. Creamy, fresh, local goat cheese added the satisfying fat and creaminess that I needed to make this a meal salad.

I did not take a photo of the salad with dressing because it’s just not pretty! My dressing included 3 cloves of garlic, a jalapeno, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, and a big drizzle of honey. I of course ground some salt and pepper over the top as well. Delicious.

I made my husband a steak on the side and marinated that for about an hour in the same panzanella dressing mixture. No photo, steak really isn’t very nice to look at, in my opinion!

I haven’t been promoting my CSN Stores giveaway as much as I should, so I am extending it an extra couple of days. I want to hear what you love about the changing seasons, so check it out!

I have been such a slacker on posting. . . no food and wine pairings, “Wine from Where?” postings or other wine reviews in awhile. Coming soon, I promise! Where does the time go?

Phew. . . I am happy it is Thursday. Bring on the weekend!