I love kale salads in the summer. They’re light, yet also hearty and filling. I always feel really good the rest of the day after eating a large kale salad for lunch. That must have something to do with the fact that isn’t kale considered a super food?

For this spin on a traditional panzanella salad, or Italian bread salad, I used lacinato kale and sweet roasted cherry tomatoes all tossed in a very light balsamic vinaigrette.

The result is a perfect Summer lunchtime salad. The cubes of bread soak up a little of the dressing and become deliciously chewy. Even if you don’t think you like raw kale, trust me — you’ll be going back for seconds on this salad!

This panzanella salad is great served immediately or made a day in advance. Enjoy!

Kale Panzanella Salad

This lunchtime salad is light, yet also hearty and filling. Add sweet roasted cherry tomatoes with a light vinaigrette.

Ingredients

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 bunch lacinato kale, roughly chopped into bite-sized pieced
• ½ cucumber, chopped
• 5 cups cubed French bread, preferably day old
• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
• Light Balsamic Vinaigrette
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ tsp minced garlic
• ¼ of a chopped shallot
• pinch of Italian seasoned salt {or regular sea salt} and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet tray with aluminum foil and scatter the cherry tomatoes on top. Drizzle with a tsp of olive oil and roast for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. While the tomatoes are roasting, heat up a large skillet over medium high heat on the stove. Add the other tsp of olive oil and the cubed bread. Toss the bread well in the oil, so each cube of bread has some oil on it. Add a sprinkle of salt. Toast the bread, tossing constantly, for about five minutes or until bread turns golden. Remove from heat and place bread in a large bowl.
3. Add chopped cucumber and kale to the bowl with the cubed bread. Toss. Add roasted tomatoes when they are out of the oven.
4. To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a glass jar {or small bowl}. Shake until creamy then drizzle over salad, tossing well to coat all of the bread and kale in dressing.
5. Serve salad immediately or chilled.

Yield: 4 servings

Jenna Weber is half of the Fresh Tastes blog team. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2008 and, since then, has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and freelance food editor. Currently, Jenna blogs full-time on EatLiveRun.com where her delicious daily recipes and quirky culinary musings appeal to thousands. She lives in Northern California and, when not in the kitchen, can usually be found on her yoga mat.