A California Panzanella

This is a wildcard panzanella. And it is very Northern California inspired - featuring multi-grain bread, a spicy peanut sauce, sprouts, and grilled or roasted tofu.

A California Panzanella

This is a wildcard panzanella. And it is very Northern California inspired. I first featured a grilled version of it in Super Natural Cooking after enjoying a quirky sandwich while driving up the California coast to a spot near Anchor Bay. The sandwich was a mix of oven-roasted tomatoes, peanut butter dressing, grilled tofu, and sprouts, all pinned between two slices of multigrain bread. Odd yet completely delicious. I liked it enough to rework it into this twist on panzanella, the much-loved Italian bread salad.
A California Panzanella
This version in Super Natural Cooking is grilled. This version you can make using your oven instead. Just remember, when the weather warms, roll out your grill - toast the bread, and cook the tofu slabs that way.
A California Panzanella
You have some options with the tomatoes. When cherry tomatoes are abundant, and in-season, I love to toss them in a bit of olive oil, and roast them on a sheet pan in a hot oven until browned and blistered. Here's the post about roasted cherry tomatoes. But, you can also use chopped, sun-dried tomatoes, the ones packed in oil are best here. Kind of raisin-y in texture.
A California Panzanella
This is a great way to use up day-old bread. It's even better than using a loaf of fresh because the bread ends up more structured and hearty.

101 Cookbooks Membership

Premium Ad-Free membership includes:
-Ad-free content
-Print-friendly recipes
-Spice / Herb / Flower / Zest recipe collection PDF
-Weeknight Express recipe collection PDF
-Surprise bonuses throughout the year

spice herb flower zest
weeknight express
browse more:

A California Panzanella

4.38 from 8 votes

Ingredients
  • 2 thick slices of hearty multi-grain bread
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra
  • fine-grain sea salt
  • 12- ounce block extra-firm tofu, sliced into 4 slabs
  • 1/3 cups all-natural peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons brown rice or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic
  • ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/3 to 2/3 cup hot water
  • 1 ½ cups sprouts
  • ½ cup roasted cherry tomatoes
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes, and toss with the olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt. Bake until golden and crunchy, ten minutes or so.

  2. Brush the tofu with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, place it on a sheet pan and bake, flipping once, until golden on both sides. Seven minutes, or so, on each side. Remove from the oven, cut into ½-inch pieces, and place in a large bowl.

  3. In the meantime, make the peanut dressing by combining the peanut butter, vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and ¼ teaspoon salt into a medium bowl. Thin with the hot water. I like the dressing to be the consistency of thin, melted ice cream. Taste and adjust with more salt, or pepper flakes, if needed.
  4. Just before serving, pour a generous amount of the dressing over the tofu, and toss it gently, but well. It should look quite overdressed at this point. Add the bread and gently toss again. Turn out onto a platter and top with the sprouts and then the roasted tomatoes. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

Serves 4 to 6.

Serves
4
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 
If you make this recipe, I'd love to see it - tag it #101cookbooks on Instagram!

Post Your Comment

Recipe Rating




Comments

Looks delicious... Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe.

Anupama Chopra

More Recipes

101cookbooks social icon
Join my newsletter!
Weekly recipes and inspirations.

Popular Ingredients

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of its User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

101 Cookbooks is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Any clickable link to amazon.com on the site is an affiliate link.