Ikaria Longevity Peach Salad with Sourdough Bread, Tomatoes and Feta
The Mediterranean diet and Greek diet both are filled with delicious recipes for making use of old bread, one of the essential Mediterranean diet ingredients! Nothing goes to waste. Bread salad is one of those Mediterranean diet recipes. This is essentially a panzanella, but with a Greek touch in that it calls for one of two classic Greek cheeses, either feta or manouri. Both are sheep’s milk cheeses. I make this salad all summer long and am lucky to have local peaches and tomatoes, cucumbers and onions from my own Blue Zone Ikaria longevity garden! You can replicate it anywhere, though, so long as you choose to make it in season, when tomatoes and peaches are both at their peak. As for the extra virgin Greek olive oil, well, that’s pretty much available everywhere and I carry some great ones online!
Ingredients
- 2 1-inch thick slices of stale country-style sourdough bread preferably whole grain
- 2 ripe firm peaches or nectarines, skin on, cut into 4 wedges each (stone removed)
- 1 ½ cups red cherry or teardrop tomatoes halved
- 1 ½ cups yellow cherry or teardrop tomatoes halved
- 1 small red onion halved and sliced
- 1 small cucumber preferably organic, unpeeled and sliced into rounds
- 10 fresh basil leaves
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 3 ounces Greek manouri cheese or feta broken up or cut into chunks
- Extra virgin Greek olive oil as needed
Instructions
- Brush a grill pan or the grill itself with a little olive oil and heat to medium. Brush the bread slices with a little olive oil on both sides and char in the pan or on the grill until crisp, turning once to get marks on both sides. Remove and set aside.
- Brush the peach wedges with olive oil and grill them, too, turning to get marks on both sides. Set aside.
- Cut the bread slices in half or into thirds or quarters, as desired. Place in a salad serving bow. Place the tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and peaches in the bowl. Season with salt. Add the cheese and drizzle with olive oil as desired. Toss and serve.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!