This Thai Sweet Chili Panzanella Salad was apart of my submission to IL Desco’s Italian Dinner Competition.
The competition post is here.
Do you have some stale bread laying around? Well…I didn’t. I went out and bought a fresh loaf. It was steaming hot, condensation masking the bread that was encased in the breathable bag. I dared not eat any of it. I needed it stale for this glorious salad. This test on my will power paid off and I am happy to report that a Thai Sweet Chili Panzanella Salad is just as good as it sounds!
My recipe is a riff off of the Italian Panzanella salad. The original calls for onions, cucumbers and vinegar but I have opted for just the cucumber because…that’s what I had lying around. Feel free to make this how you want but let’s be real…it was those huge chunks of crunchy and golden bread cubes that caught your attention. You need the bread, tomatoes and dressing…add whatever else you want after that. This salad is fresh but indulgent at the same time. Their so so much going on in the way of flavors and textures. The cucumbers are crunchy, the tomatoes are soft and the bread…oh, the bread…it’s soft and crunchy with a powerful punch of flavor!
Oh, since this is Thai in flavor…let there be cilantro!!!
This dish came to me on youtube. Chef John’s Panzanella recipe and TheCooknShare’s Sweet Thai Chili recipe was sitting on my recommended videos list. I just put them together. This concept has been sitting in my “recipe ideas” book for over a year. I am kicking myself for not making it sooner. Well, maybe not kicking but definitely regretting it. Don’t let this be you…make it. You need this in your life.
- 12 oz Tomato Medley Or any variety you choose
- 1 whole Cucumber
- 1 tbsp Cilantro Plus more for garnish
- 2 tbsp Sweet Thai Chili Sauce I used Mae Ploy
- 1 tbsp Peanut Oil
- 1 tsp Fish Sauce
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 4 Cup Stale French Bread Cubed (1 inch)
- 1 oz Unsalted Butter
- 2 oz Extra-virgin Olive Oil
- Salt To taste
- Deseed and cube the cucumber. Set aside.
- Cut your tomatoes in half. Set in a bowl.
- In a bowl, mix the tomatoes with all the ingredients for the dressing. It may not look like much but the salt will pull more liquid out of the tomatoes.
- Cube the bread. I prefer 1 inch cubes but the size is up to you. Just make sure they are the same size (That way they cook evenly)
- In a large pan over low-medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil.
- Add in the bread cubes and fry until golden and crunchy. Be sure to keep moving the pan (about 8-10 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside until you are ready to serve. Salt to taste.
- Mix the bread cubes with the cucumbers and dressing right before you serve.
You can cut the cubes however you want, just make sure they are uniform so they can cook evenly and look pretty.
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