Summer Bread Salad with Zucchini, Tomatoes and Feta Cheese (MACSAC)

This is one of my favorite summertime recipes.  It comes from the A-Z cookbook from the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (MACSAC) which is a fantastic resource for using all that fresh produce from your garden or local farmers market.

Summer Bread Salad with Zucchini, Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

1  1/2 – 2 cups chopped baby zucchini
1 – 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped sweet or green onion
1/4 cup chopped imported olives (black or green)
1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3  Tablespoons wine vinegar
2 teaspoons minced garlic
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
5-6 cups firm textured bread cubes (sourdough, pita, etc), dried or
toasted

Toss all ingredients except bread in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature to develop flavor, tossing occasionally, 1/2 to 1 hour. Toss in bread just before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.

A couple of tips:

– I usually make a double portion of this – it moves quickly! Only put the bread into the portion that you’re going to serve immediately though -it gets pretty soggy overnight otherwise.

– I like the flavor of good balsamic vinegar so I will generally replace one of the tablespoons of wine vinegar with a tablespoon of balsamic.

– This is a great way to use the summer squash that inevitably takes over a garden. The key for this recipe though is to use them when they’re small and not bitter.