Spring Panzanella Salad

 

This panzanella salad is bursting with spring vegetables and is a great side dish to any meal.

When I eat a salad, I want a salad with substance. I don’t want a wimpy salad with just greens—I like to pack my salads full of goodies! My current favorite is this Spring Panzanella Salad. It has lots of spring green veggies and buttery herbed croutons. A salad with carbs? Yes, please!

Traditionally, panzanella salad is made with day-old bread, but I rarely have day-old bread lying around because I can never resist a fresh loaf of bread :) So, instead of letting my bread get stale on the counter, I dried it out in the oven.
 

I melted a half stick of Land O Lakes^® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt and stirred in freshly chopped chives and parsley. It’s so nice to have the half sticks already wrapped and premeasured so that I don’t have any leftovers to put back in the fridge.
 

I drizzled the melted herb butter mixture over artisan bread cubes and popped them in the oven until they were nice and crunchy. I was tempted to eat the entire pan of bread, but I knew the salad would be worth the wait :)

I roasted a beautiful bunch of asparagus to go in my panzanella salad. I also added peas, arugula, and feta cheese to the mix.

I whisked up a light lemon dressing to give the salad a refreshing finish!

The salad was almost too pretty to eat! Almost!

Just looking at it makes me happy! It screams spring! The salad is refreshing and the buttery herbed croutons add a great crunch.

If you are looking for a new spring salad to whip up, make this Spring Panzanella Salad. It is great for brunch, lunch or dinner! It is already on our Easter menu. I can’t wait to make it again. It is my new favorite spring salad!

Spring Panzanella Salad

Yield: Serves 6

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

This simple Spring Panzanella Salad is great for brunch, lunch or dinner!

Ingredients

For the Salad:

8 cups cubed artisan bread, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 
1 Half Stick (1/4 cup) Land O Lakes^® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt, melted 
1 teaspoon finely chopped chives 
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley 
1 large bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces 
1 tablespoon olive oil 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 
3 cups baby arugula 
1 cup fresh or frozen peas (thaw peas if using frozen) 
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

For the Lemon Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
1 teaspoon white or golden balsamic vinegar 
1/2 teaspoon honey 
1 tablespoon minced shallot 
1 clove garlic, minced 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For Garnish:

1 tablespoon chopped chives 
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Directions 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place bread cubes in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, chives, and parsley. Pour herb butter over the bread cubes and toss until well coated. Pour bread cubes on a large baking sheet. Place asparagus pieces on a separate large baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss until well coated. Season the bread cubes and asparagus with salt and black pepper, to taste.

Place baking sheets in the oven and cook for 30-35 minutes, or until bread cubes are crunchy and slightly golden brown and asparagus is tender, but still crisp. You will want to stir the bread crumbs and asparagus 1 to 2 times while they are in the oven. Remove pans from oven and cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, asparagus, arugula, peas, and feta cheese.

To make the dressing, in a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, honey, shallot and garlic. Whisk until well combined. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.

Drizzle dressing over the salad and gently toss. Garnish panzanella salad with additional chives and parsley. Serve.

Note: This salad is best the day it is made. It can be made a few hours in advance.

Two Peas and Their Pod has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes^® Butter for their Kitchen Conversations blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.