Aug 25 2016
I had some cornbread left and had fresh garden tomatoes to use. Panzanella was a natural to think of. I searched the net for some ideas and found a good one at Two Peas and Their Pod. In theirs they used Jalapeno cornbread, lime juice, cilantro and a Mexican Cheese for more of Tex Mex flair. I used it as a guide and used my plain cornbread, balsamic vinegar, basil and mozzarella cheese for an Italian version.
I thought a meatloaf would be good with it so got 1 ¼ pounds of 80-20 ground chuck from my butcher. I mixed in a package of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix, 1 beaten egg, ½ sleeve crushed saltine crackers, ¼ cup ½ & ½ cream, salt and pepper. I mixed it all up and in the fridge for an hour before smoking.
I cut up and toasted the cornbread early so all I had to do was assemble the salad just before supper. I did the meatloaf on my Traeger. It took about 1 ½ hours to get it to 160 deg.IT.
Our son is away on a golf outing this week end so asked the DIL for supper; I know she likes panzanella. The grandson had soccer practice so she came ate with us and was taking him and a friend out after the practice.
I had the salad made and sliced the meatloaf and it was get your own and heat up the meatloaf. I had the salad, two slices of meatloaf with Maille mustard and two pieces of the Super Pig Bacon Candy Corn. I was surprised our veggie DIL had two pieces of the meatloaf! I liked some bread panzanella I made a while back better but the wife said she liked this cornbread version.
Here is link to recipe I followed
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/jalapeno-cornbread-panzanella-salad/Smokin Don
My adapted recipe:
Cornbread Panzanella Salad
Adapted from a recipe by Two Peas and Their Pod
For the Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and black pepper, to taste
For the Salad:
1 or two ears sweet corn, kernels removed from cob
1/2 green pepper, diced, seeds removed
1/2 red pepper, diced, seeds removed
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 large avocado, slices
8 fresh basil leaves sliced thin
1/4 cup diced sweet onion
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the cooled cornbread into 1-inch cubes. Place the cubes on a large baking sheet and toast until slightly golden brown, about 20 minutes, turning the cornbread cubes once. Remove the cornbread from the oven and cool completely.
2. Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing
3. In a large bowl, combine cornbread cubes, corn, peppers, tomatoes, basil, and onion, in a large bowl. Add avocado slices when serving. Drizzle dressing over the salad and toss. Serve immediately.