You will need: Day-old bread, tomatoes, red onion, garlic, Italian dressing, fresh basil and Romaine lettuce.

This bread salad is popular in Europe.  Cube half a loaf of day-old, locally baked crusty bready and lightly toast it in the oven, like large croutons (in 1-inch squares).  Rough chop 3 ripe local tomatoes (save the juice), 1 small red onion sliced thin and 1 clove fresh chopped garlic.  Add the bread and vegetables together and dress with 1/2 cup of your favorite Italian or balsamic vinaigrette dressing and a pinch of fresh chopped basil.  Make it a day ahead and refrigerate, covered, overnight.  Or, prepare and let it sit at room temperature for a couple hours for the best flavor.  Serve with crunchy, fresh local Romaine lettuce.  Taste it before you serve it; the bread soaks up the dressing and it may need a splash of fresh dressing to perk it up.

Serves 4-6