Summer grilling just got a whole lot more delicious with this Garlicky Grilled Vegetable Panzanella. It takes the classic Italian bread salad and gives it a smoky, backyard-barbecue twist: crisp whole wheat baguette toasts are rubbed with fresh garlic, then tossed with juicy cherry tomatoes, sweet red and yellow peppers, parsley, Parmesan, and a simple dressing of canola oil, salt, and pepper.
What makes this recipe so easy is that everything comes together in one foil pan. Grill the bread first until it has beautiful char marks, rub it with garlic for that irresistible savoury flavour, then combine it with the vegetables and let the grill do the rest. Covered and set over indirect heat, the vegetables become tender while the bread soaks up all of those garlicky, tomatoey juices. In about 35 minutes, you have a warm, colourful salad that tastes like summer on a plate.
Cherry tomatoes are the star here, and they are worth celebrating. Canadian greenhouse tomatoes are available year-round, while field tomatoes peak from August through October, so this is a great recipe to enjoy all season long. Learn more about what’s in season with tomatoes, or get tips for keeping them at their best with this guide to how to store tomatoes.
The garlic is another simple ingredient that makes a big impact. Curious where it comes from? Discover how garlic is harvested in Canada, from the field to storage.
This panzanella is wonderful as an appetizer, but it can easily become a satisfying main. Add a can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans for plant-based protein, or toss in your favourite grilled meat. The canola oil is a smart choice for the grill too: it has a high smoke point, making it well suited to barbecuing and other high-heat cooking.
Serve it straight from the foil pan at your next cookout, picnic, or weeknight dinner. It is fresh, flexible, and guaranteed to disappear quickly!
Recipe developed by Carol Harrison.
Garlicky Grilled Vegetable Panzanella
Ingredients
- 1 whole wheat grain baguette, cut into 1/2 inch pieces cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, halved
- 1 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 each red and yellow pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup each coarsely chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Place whole wheat baguette slices on greased grill over medium-high heat until grill marks appear, turning once, about 4 minutes. Rub toasts with half the garlic cloves. Cut baguette into rough pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Add cherry tomatoes, red pepper, yellow pepper, parsley, Parmesan cheese, canola oil, remaining garlic cloves, salt and pepper to bowl with baguette pieces. Toss to combine flavours.
- Transfer to a foil pan. You can make ahead, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before grilling. Cover foil pan with heavy-duty foil. Place the foil pan over the indirect heat of your grill. Place on one rack of a 2-burner barbecue or on the center rack of a 3-burner barbecue. Heat the surrounding burners to medium-high heat, about 375°F (190°C). Close lid and grill, stirring once, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.
Let’s Talk Tomatoes: Nutrition, Innovation, and Growing Challenges
Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable has long been debated, but either way, tomatoes are an important source of essential vitamins and minerals, fibre, antioxidants and they’re low in calories. With the help of science, the tomato could get even better. In Britain, researchers have developed a purple tomato high in anthocyanins, a family of antioxidants found in plants that may have disease-preventing properties. The tomato is being grown for research trial purposes in Ontario.
Tomatoes are susceptible to pest pressures including insects such as aphids, flea beetles and the tomato hornworm as well as diseases like blight and mosaic virus. Farmers use pest control products to protect the crop from these pests to ensure they can still harvest a crop at the end of the growing season. Without pesticides, Canadian farmers would grow 50 per cent fewer tomatoes each year. Thanks to pesticides, famers can grow more tomatoes across Canada and we have more of the tomato-based products we enjoy like salsa, spaghetti sauce and ketchup.
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