Bread Salad, or Panzanella

Panzanella, or Bread Salad by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

When the summer tomatoes are at their juiciest, make this bread salad, panzanella, a salad that is greater than the sum of its parts. Tomatoes, bread, a little garlic, a round-up of the produce kicking around in the produce drawer. It's the kind of easy, effortless eating that just makes summer summer.

Panzanella

6 green onions

1/2 baguette, day old, cubed

1 shallot, minced

1 small cucumber, diced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1 handful basil leaves, shredded


Dressing:

2 tablespoons minced shallots

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind

1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper to taste



1. To prepare the dressing: In a large bowl, use a fork to mix together the shallots, lemon rind, garlic and salt, mashing the ingredients together.Whisk in oil, vinegar and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. To prepare the salad: Add the salad ingredients together and toss well with the dressing.Serve immediately or store in refrigerator for up to a half hour.

Text and image copyright 2013, Lucy Mercer.

Will Write for Food author in Atlanta

Dianne Jacob’s Will Write for Food is a book that nearly leapt into my hands. I tend to think of books coming into my life as a karmic, or God thing, and that’s the way I feel about this book. It was in my Borders store (RIP), and I remember pushing the baby in the stroller through the store on the way to somewhere else, maybe the food court, maybe dropping off film at Wolf Camera (RIP, too). Near the end of the cookbook shelf, a cover with typewriter keys "WILL WRITE FOR FOOD" caught my eye. Not chocolate, not pie, not fruit or vegetables, but typewriter keys. Hmmm, I checked on the baby and decided I had a minute to peruse the book.

Will Write for Food, original cover

 If my life had happened the way I wanted it to, I would write for Southern Living. It didn’t happen, which is ok. It’s really ok. I live in Georgia, not Alabama, and my family is here. But the stories about food and gardens had been spinning in my brain since forever and I needed a place to put them. And here was a book, in my hot little hands, that said how to do it. "Will Write for Food," what a great title I thought. $15  and a quick scan of my Borders Rewards card (sigh, I still have it on my keychain) and it was mine.

Will Write for Food, revised edition

Since that day six years ago, I’ve read through the book and cherished Dianne Jacob’s frank and fresh advice on crisp writing and editing specifically for food stories. I follow her blog, also called Will Write for Food, and taken to heart her writerly advice and business savvy.

And now, I get to meet her. 

Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write for Food

 

Dianne Jacob will be in Atlanta June 1 for a class at Cook’s Warehouse at Ansley Mall. It’s a daylong class with the top expert on food blogging and writing. Seats are still available for the class and if there’s any part of you that ever thought, “Hey, I could write for Southern Living” or “Saveur” or even write a cookbook, then you need to be in this class. Hope to see you there!

Food Writing for Food Lovers

presented by Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write for Food

The Cook's Warehouse
Ansley Mall
Atlanta, GA
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
$150