Summer Vegetable Salad with Grilled Bread

My notes: This is one of our favorite vegetarian dishes to prepare in the summer. To make this an even more substantial dish, you can add cooked pasta to the mix. I often combine elements of this recipe with elements of Cooking Light's Roasted Vegetable Salad with Grilled Chicken. They are both very versatile salads, allowing you to easily tailor them to your own tastes. The dressing is very simple, but very flavorful.

Source: Cooking Light, July 2001

The bread will start to soften when it's tossed with the vinaigrette. If you make the salad ahead, toss in the bread cubes and cheese just before serving.

Dressing:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Salad:
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
4 (1-ounce) slices diagonally cut day-old French bread (about 1 inch thick)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 large tomatoes, cored, cut in half crosswise, and seeded
1 red bell pepper, quartered
1 yellow bell pepper, quartered
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
Cooking spray
3 cups (1/4-inch) sliced zucchini (about 1 pound)
3 cups (1/4-inch) sliced yellow squash (about 1 pound)
1 cup canned cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

To prepare dressing, combine first 6 ingredients in a small jar; cover tightly, and shake vigorously.Prepare grill.

To prepare salad, combine 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and 1 garlic clove in a small bowl. Brush one side of each bread slice with garlic mixture; sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Grill bread 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Cool; cut toast into 1/2-inch cubes.

Place the tomatoes, bell peppers, and onion in a wire grilling basket coated with cooking spray. Place grilling basket on grill rack; grill 6 minutes on each side or until tender. Remove from basket. Place zucchini and yellow squash in basket. Place basket on grill rack; grill for 6 minutes on each side or until tender. Combine the vegetables; cool.
Coarsely chop vegetables; place in a large bowl. Add the dressing, toasted bread cubes, beans, basil, and thyme; toss to coat. Divide salad evenly among 6 plates; sprinkle with cheese. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 2/3 cups salad and 4 teaspoons cheese)

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES 240(30% from fat); FAT 7.9g (sat 2.3g,mono 3.6g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 9.3g; CHOLESTEROL 8mg; CALCIUM 118mg; SODIUM 685mg; FIBER 5g; IRON 3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.9g

Cooking Light, JULY 2001

I talked about this recipe HERE.