This recipe was adapted from Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat and was a carbohydrate/vegetable course to accompany Buttermilk Marinated Roast Chicken. This made about 3 servings and took about 40 minutes, mostly elapsed time. One trick in this recipe is to add half of the croutons early and half late so that there is a mixture of crunchy and soft croutons. In season, this could be made with ripe summer tomatoes, but for the rest of the year, cherry tomatoes would be better, and is what I used.
4 oz. good bread
1.5 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
1.5 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
8 basil leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Remove the crust from the bread and cut it into ½ inch cubes. Toss in a bowl with the olive oil and spread out in a single layer on a quarter sheet pan. Bake in the oven until nicely browned and crispy. Start checking after about 8 minutes. Remove the toasted croutons from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
Put the onion and vinegar in a small bowl and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Put half of the croutons in the bottom of a medium bowl and top with the quartered tomatoes. Sprinkle with some salt and allow to rest for 10 minutes to let the tomato juices drip onto the croutons.
Add the cucumbers, basil, and marinated onion to the bowl. Pour in about ¼ cup of the tomato vinaigrette and toss. Check if this seems like enough dressing. Just before serving, add the rest of the croutons, toss, and again check to see if you should add some more dressing. Serve immediately.
Leftover salad can be kept overnight in the refrigerator and will be fine the next day, although all the croutons will be soft.