In my New York City, Saturday mornings mean a trip to a Farmer's Market. Although it's hard to imagine while gawking at Times Square, rich farmland surrounds us. It may be even harder to imagine, but once you get past the industrial ring of northern New Jersey, the rest of the New Jersey looks a bit like Ohio - long flat plains bursting with corn and tomatoes all summer long.
NYC Greenmarkets are set up in neighborhoods all over the five boroughs. The biggest and fanciest takes place in Union Square on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. My personal favorite is in McCarren Park - right between Williamsburg and Greenpoint Brooklyn. It's just a few minutes drive from my house in Queens, and it usually works its way into the trajectory of whatever I am up to on a Saturday morning.
I am always sporting a low-level craving for the cool, chewy goodness that is Panzanella - Italian bread salad. To satiate said craving, this Saturday I picked up 5 fresh Jersey roma tomatoes, fresh parsley (both seasonal) anda loaf of olive-semolina Italian bread at the Greenmarket...plus some celery and garlic from the deli.
5 awesome fresh tomatoes
2 stalks celery
1/2 C fresh parsley
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
Any other herb you like - rosemary, basil are both good candidates
Step the first is to roughly chop the tomatoes, place them in a bowl and toss them with a teaspoon of salt. The salt will start drawing out the tomato juices as you complete the other steps.
Take a moment to look through the fridge for inspiration. This is definitely a dish you can improvise. Panzanella can be made with almost anything, and is an excellent use for leftovers. I often have eaten it with red onions and fresh basil.
While the juice is seeping out of the 'maters, cut the bread into 1" cubes, and spread the cubes out on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven.
To the tomatoes, I added 2 stalks of diced celery, 1/2 cup of chopped parsley and a decimated clove of raw garlic. I also added a few tablespoons of olive oil, the same of balsamic vinegar and a ton of fresh pepper.
After about 10 minutes, the cubes should be about the right consistency - that of day-old bread. The juice in the tomato bowl should be collecting nicely. There should be about 1/2 C of liquid.
Once the bread is dry and almost crunchy on the outside, all that's left to do is toss it with the tomato mixture and help yourself. The bread soaks up the juice, becoming flavorful and decadent. The Jersey tomatoes in my case brought a snap of cold freshness.
Think of it as a sandwich in a bowl!!