Chicken Panzanella – Italian Bread Salad with Chicken
Look around in your pantry and be creative
Sometimes I have no idea what to cook for dinner. I wanted to make something simple yesterday. I looked around in my kitchen, opened the fridge to see what ingredients I could find at home. Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic and homemade paleo bread are always at home. I found chicken breast and olives in the fridge. I put everything on the kitchen table and immediately remembered a great salad I had eaten in Tuscany. Yes, let’s make a great Italian Panzanella! It is gluten and dairy free and absolutely paleo if you use paleo bread.
Panzanella
Panzanella is a Tuscan chopped salad with soaked toasted bread. Its main vegetable ingredient are onions, tomatoes and cucumber. And it is dressed with olive oil and vinegar. Panzanella is a very popular salad in Italy.
There was no chicken in the traditional Panzanella, but nowadays it is also made with chicken or tuna.
The pan-fried chicken breast with Italian herb mix is a perfect complement. I toast diced bread in the pan in which the chicken had fried previously. The bread absorbs the spicy oil well and turns to beautiful golden brown.
Do not forget to place a few basil leaves to the top of the salad before serving. I season a bit of freshly ground pepper at the end.
One Portion or Two
This portion of this salad is a hearty dinner for one person. But it is enough for 2 people also as appetizer. This salad is easy and quick to make. It can be done with little work and the end result is very delicious. And last but not least it is a healthy dish.
Chicken Panzanella - Italian Bread Salad with Chicken
Ingredients
- 150 gram cherry tomato cut half
- 2 pcs mini cucumber about 100 gram, thinly sliced
- ½ red onion about 50 gram, thinly sliced
- 10 pcs olives
- 1 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar of Modena
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 200 gram chicken breast
- 1 tsp dried Italian herb mix
- 1 pcs paleo bread roll diced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Some basil leaves
Instructions
- Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar and ¼ tsp salt in a small bowl.
- Put tomato, cucumber, red onion, garlic and olives in another bowl. Add oil and vinegar mixture.
- Roll the chicken breast into dried Italian herb mix and season with salt.
- Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a pan and fry chicken breast for 2-3 minutes on both sides. Set aside on a plate.
- Toast the diced paleo bread roll in the same pan in which you fried the chicken breast, until golden brown. Bread absorbs the leftover spicy oil.
- Slice the fried chicken breast.
- Add fried chicken breast and toasted bread into the vegetable mix.
- Serve Panzanella onto plate, sprinkle with chopped basil leaves and season with a bit of freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!