Greek Panzanella

Greek what???  If your like me you have no idea what Greek Panzanella is but it showed up on Annie's Eats a month ago and it looked good but when I read the ingredients I knew I wouldn't be able to get Lee to eat it.  Well I had a friend post and say how awesome it was so I knew I had to try it!  One of my friends happened to be coming over the same night Lee was going to sleep thru dinner so I figured it was the perfect opportunity to try it. 

Greek Panzanella Salad

2 tbsp. olive oil
6 cups French bread cubes (1 inch)
Kosher salt
1 cucumber
1 red or yellow bell pepper, large diced (if you like these alot use 1 of each)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
½ red onion, sliced thin
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
2.5 oz. can sliced black olives, drained

Vinaigrette:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1¼ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. Dijon mustard
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

Cube the bread and place olive oil in skillet and heat up.  Add bread and cook till slightly browned and crispy.  While browning your bread cut up all veggies and place in bowl, if your like me and don't like raw peppers then cook your peppers for a few minutes. 

Now whisk together all of the vinaigrette ingredients and pour over the veggies, add the feta cheese and stir, then toss in half of the bread.  Let set in the fridge for 20-30minutes, then serve.

*Okay the reason why I say only to put half of the bread into the mixture is because it does get slightly soggy and I prefer crunchy bread.  Also if you plan on having leftovers you might skip mixing all the bread in and only add bread to each serving.  The longer it sets the better the veggies are I think but the soggier the bread gets!

Adapted from Annie's Eats and inspired by Kirbe to cook!