Thursday, July 15, 2010

CEiMB - Panzanella with Field Roast Chorizo


This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly selection was chosen by my buddy Peggy of Pantry Revisited. Peggy is hilarious and I always enjoy visiting her blog to read what she's been up to.

I have been insanely busy at work, working 11-12 hour days six days a week, so I considered skipping this one. But I didn't because a) it's Peggy and b) I'm afraid I'll be kicked out of the group if I don't make something soon. So one night after a short (11 hour) day at work, I came home and tossed together this salad. I made a single serving since I was on my own that night. I only had wheat sandwich bread on hand, so I cubed it and toasted it in the oven. I didn't want to have onion in my salad but I had a lonely head of red cabbage in the crisper so I used that in place of the red onion (radicchio would have been a better substitution). And although I'd be happy to have chicken sausage, I haven't found one yet that isn't made with pork casings, so I substituted a Field Roast chorizo. In case you haven't tried Field Roast yet, it's grain-based and texturally similar to sausage (and is also made to resemble other meats). Because it was chorizo, it was nice and spicy. I sliced it on the diagonal and sauteed it in a pan sprayed with cooking spray. I tossed the rest of the ingredients (cucumbers, cabbage, bread cubes, basil, olive oil, vinegar) in a bowl and garnished it with the Field Roast chorizo.

This was a deee-licious salad. I've never enjoyed panzanella, finding the bread too soggy (wet bread is so texturally offensive to me that I'd skip lunch rather than eating a sandwich with wet bread...and I don't normally skip meals). But toasting the bread so that it was crisp on the outside while still soft on the inside made all the difference. The crispy outside absorbed the oil and vinegar without getting at all soggy.

Thanks so much, Peggy, for choosing this recipe! I'm so happy to have found a panzanella recipe that I like!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks great! Thanks for passing on the info about those sausages - I am definitely going to keep an eye out for them.

Kayte said...

Ah, my wet-bread hating sister! I never once thought to toast this bread, but I do think it would make a big difference. Thanks for the tip. Also interesting about the Field Roast chorizo...will look into that one also. Your salad looks great and it was fun to hear what te subs were...I can see this is more of a versatile recipe than I had originally thought.

Peggy said...

Leslie you are so sweet to make those nice comments about lil ole me! I think all your subs sound delicious and I give you a thumbs up for trying it after a long day at work. It really is a versatile salad, isn't it? I didn't think I would like it because it had no lettuce. Funny how we all had different vibes about this one. But thank you so much for cooking with me this week. You always make cooking along so much more fun and interesting.

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a lovely salad. I am new to your blog, so I've spent some time browsing through your earlier entries. I'm so glad I did. I really like your recipes and the welcoming tone of your blog. I'll be back often. I hope you have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

Bri said...

Yours looks like it turned out delicious, even with your variations. This recipe really does lend itself to your own interpretations. The chorizo sounds yummy; thanks for the tip.

Joanne said...

Interesting substitutions. I like all the suggestions.
Great salad!

Hanaâ said...

Vegetarian chorizo! Who knew! That's awesome. I'm not a big salad person but this one looks pretty tasty!

TeaLady said...

You made it without maters. Why didn't I think about that and go ahead and make this. Maybe I will. There are so many items we canot find here and that chorizo is one of them.

Looks tasty.

Liz said...

Chorizo sounds great, what a good idea!

Pamela said...

Yeah...not a wet bread fan, either! I toasted mine and will do it again! I got some romaine that morning in my CSA share, so I added it to beef up my veggie intake! That Field Roast chorizo sounds yummy!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

Yours looks great. I ended up with a salad since I left out the bread and sausage. It was a good salad.

I like your substitutions. The best part of salads is the changes one can make.

Anonymous said...

I posted in Comfy Cook, not where you usually find me.

Anonymous said...

I posted in Comfy Cook, not where you usually find me.

Mary said...

This is a good after work recipe...I love reading all of the substitutions that people do. Nice word Girl.