Too Hot to Cook

My wife and I love to cook but sometimes in the summer it is just WAY too hot to turn on the oven, let alone the grill. On days as hot as this (today it is supposed to get up to 99 degrees!) I REALLY refuse to grill since I am the one who will have to stand out in the heat over smoking hot charcoal.

On days like this my wife makes this bread salad. It fills us up, but its not too heavy and a bonus--it takes about 10 minutes to make!

Tomato Bread Salad

1 loaf of day old baguette or italian bread, cut into cubes

2 Ripe, garden fresh tomatoes, diced

1 seedles cucumber, diced

2 T. Exra-Virgin Olive Oil

1 T. Red Wine Vinegar

2 Fresh Basil Leaves, torn

1/2 Tsp. Kosher salt

Pepper to taste

You can also add: Mozzarella cheese (we like to use REAL buffalo mozzarella, torn into bite size chunks) shredded rotisserie chicken (Go buy it from the supermarket--remember its too hot to cook!)

Directions:Combine bread, tomato, cucumber in a large bowl. Drizzle with Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, and Basil. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper and stir again. Add Chicken and Mozzarella cheese if desired.
 

This salad keeps only for about a day, but as the bread has more time to soak up all the olive oil, vinegar and juices it gets even better!

We have also made a Greek version of this salad by adding green pepper, feta cheese, oregano and Lemon Juice. Also great to add chicken to this too!