Yesterday’s Bread Is Today’s Salad

Cooks are by nature a thrifty lot. Nothing delights them more than turning yesterday’s leftovers into today’s culinary triumphs.

Consider the case of bread. We Americans aren’t particularly imaginative when it comes to using up stale bread. (Our use of old bread is almost exclusively limited to bread crumbs and croutons.) But other cultures are endlessly ingenious when it comes to salvaging day-old bread.

The Portuguese, for example, turn stale loaves into rabanadas , crisp rounds of French toast perfumed with cinnamon and dusted with sugar. The Italians combine old bread with chicken broth, olive oil and pecorino cheese to make a soulful soup called pappa al pomodoro. The Spanish have elevated a stale-bread-and-raw-vegetable puree to a national dish: gazpacho.

To my thinking, one of the best uses for stale bread is in salads. In Tuscany, there’s a wonderful summer salad called panzanella , made by moistening bread with water and tossing it with tomatoes, onions, olive oil and basil. And the Lebanese raise the lowly pita bread to the level of art in fattoosh , a fragrant salad made with pita bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, pomegranate seeds and mint.

According to food historian Raymond Sokolov, bread salads are of great antiquity. The Bible gives a recipe for a primitive bread salad in the Book of Ruth. “At mealtime come thou hither,” Boaz tells Ruth, “and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar.” “De Re Culinaria,” a Roman cookbook ascribed to the famous 2nd-Century gourmet Apicius, includes several recipes for elaborate vinegar-soaked bread dishes known as sala cattabia.

Not that bread salads have to be old-fashioned. Not long ago, while I was on vacation, I contrived a grilled-bread salad that makes use of such timely ingredients as balsamic vinegar and grilled tomatoes.

Bread salads are ideal for tailgate picnics and al fresco feasting. Unlike green salads, they won’t wilt after 20 minutes. Unlike tomato or cucumber salads, they don’t become soupy, because the bread absorbs the juices.

When preparing bread salads, use a firm, sturdy bread such as Tuscan bread, rye bread or French pain de campagne. A puffy sandwich bread, such as Wonder Bread, will disintegrate into starchy mush.

Here are three salads that make good use of stale bread. It could be that you won’t want to wait until the bread becomes a leftover.

You don’t need a degree in restaurant-going to know that grill fever has reached near epidemic proportions. Here’s a summery salad featuring grilled bread and vegetables.

GRILLED BREAD SALAD

1 clove garlic

About 1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 loaf stale French bread

4 medium onions, quartered

4 green onions

4 plum tomatoes

2 sweet red or yellow peppers

About 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon or to taste

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or other fresh herbs

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Preheat grill. Mash garlic and mix with olive oil. Let stand for garlic to infuse in oil.

Cut bread into 8 thick diagonal slices. Peel onion quarters, leaving root end intact (to help hold onion together during grilling). Toss onions with some garlic oil. Grill over medium heat, turning once or twice, 10 minutes or until browned on all sides.

Toss green onions, tomatoes and peppers with little more oil. Grill green onions until tender and lightly browned, tomatoes until skins are browned and blistered, and peppers until thoroughly charred. Brush bread slices with oil and grill 30 seconds per side or until golden brown. (Grilled bread burns very quickly, so watch carefully.)

Cut root ends off onions. Cut green onions into 2-inch pieces and tomatoes into 1-inch chunks. Scrape charred skins off peppers, then core and dice. Cut bread slices into quarters. (Can be prepared up to 24 hours ahead to this stage.)

Combine grilled vegetables and bread in large bowl with any remaining garlic oil, vinegar, lemon juice and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss well. Adjust seasonings, adding salt, pepper, vinegar or olive oil to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Traditionally, this salad would be garnished with pomegranate seeds. If unavailable, use more diced tomato or toasted pine nuts. The recipe has been adapted from Mary Laird Hamady’s “Lebanese Mountain Cookery” (David R. Godine: 1987).

FATTOOSH (Lebanese Bread Salad)

4 pita breads

2 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 cup finely chopped green onions

1 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

1/4 cup finely chopped mint leaves

1 fresh pomegranate, optional

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Split each pita bread in half and cut each half into 8 wedges. Combine pita wedges, tomatoes, green onions, parsley and mint in mixing bowl. Break pomegranate in half and remove seeds. Add to salad and gently toss.

Combine oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper in jar with tight-fitting lid and shake well. Adjust seasonings, adding salt and lemon juice to taste. Pour dressing over salad and toss to mix. Makes 4 servings.

This simple salad has been popular in Tuscany since at least the 16th Century, when a painter named Bronzino wrote a poem in its praise. The recipe was adapted from Carol Field’s fascinating book, “The Italian Baker” (Harper & Row: 1985).

PANZANELLA (Italian Bread Salad)

6 thick slices Tuscan bread or other firm dense white bread

6 medium tomatoes

2 red onions

2 stalks celery

3 cucumbers

1/2 cup black olives

12 fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons capers

4 anchovy fillets, diced

2 hard-cooked eggs, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Tear bread into 1-inch chunks and sprinkle with little cold water to moisten slightly.

Thinly slice tomatoes, red onions and celery. Peel and thinly slice cucumbers. Place bread in large bowl and add tomatoes, red onions, celery, cucumbers, olives, basil, capers, anchovies and hard-cooked eggs.

Whisk together mustard, garlic, vinegar and lemon juice in large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in oil. Pour dressing over salad and toss well. Serve at room temperature. Makes 6 servings.