Panzanella with Marinated Chickpeas and Chimichurri.

Hi my name is Jessica and I want to eat bread salad for the rest of my life.

Hope it’s not a problem.

I’m going to start a bread salad blog on the side. The obsession runs deeeeep.

But really, this was my lunch almost every single day last week. EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Hi hi hi! How was your weekend? Fantabulous and filled with ice cream? Um, we cleaned out our garage and did a major organization project on Saturday – like the ENTIRE day. I haven’t felt that physically exhausted in a long time and boy… I am still beat. It feels so good to not drive into my garage now and want to throw the contents of the room off of a 30 story building though, you know? Our garage is where we have a little cubby type thing that houses all of my food styling and photography props and it almost always looks like insanity 100% the time.

I just can’t deal with clutter. It clutters my mind so much that I feel overwhelmed and anxious and find myself unable to focus on important things like work and life and donuts and TV. 

The only thing I want cluttered are my salads. With lots of bread right now, preferably. Obviously. Incredibly. Deliciously. Annoyingly.

All of those things.

If you’re a longtime reader you know that I don’t necessarily “care” about bread. I like it but I’m not the person that will inhale the whole bread basket before dinner or even be tempted to grab a piece unless it’s SUPER special bread. No no. I save that lack of self discipline for dessert and things like pizza and french fries. But bread? No.

In this though, with the bread drenched in the marinade of vinegar and oil and herbs, I could probably eat the entire loaf if it was chopped up in the bowl. It’s SO freaking good.

Not only do we have the chickpea marinade thrown in for our dressing – lots of briney goodness and even a touch of honey – we have a few heavy-handed drizzles of freshly whipped chimichurri.

GAH.

Every time I make chimichurri, I forget how much I love chimichurri. And wonder why the heck I don’t make a batch every single week. Why not?!

One of the things that I find incredible is the ability of chimichurri to make me want to eat grilled steak or chicken and veggies PLAIN. Well, not exactly plain, but covered in chimichurri. It makes pretty much everything edible and if I could just get it to work with broccoli, life would be set.

Oh. And if you would like a behind the scenes peek with my assistant?? Here you go.

Last week he mastered the art of climbing up on the table and it’s been a wild struggle to get him off ever since. We might be standing and eating this salad for the next six weeks until he is over it. 

Panzanella with Marinated Chickpeas and Chimichurri

Yield: 2 generously (maybe even 3 or 4 if you're serving it before a meal)

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

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5 from 9 votes

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Ingredients

marinated chickpeas

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2  tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2  tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4  teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

chimichurri 

• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 2/3 cup fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

salad

• 2 cups thick italian bread cubes
• 3 cups torn butter lettuce
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 4  ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Instructions 

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Place the chickpeas in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, basil, honey, garlic, oregano salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Pour over the chickpeas. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

chimichurri

• Combine the parsley, cilantro, oregano and garlic in a food processor and pulse until small leaves and pieces remain. Add in the vinegar and pulse once more. With the processor going, stream in the olive oil and mix until just combined. Stir in the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Taste and season additionally if needed. Store sealed in the fridge for up to a week or so. This makes a bunch of chimichurri, so you will have leftovers! You can also freeze it in a ziplock bag and add it to soups or pastas.

salad

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the bread cubes on top. Bake in the preheated oven until the bread is toasty and golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.
• To assemble the salad, add the bread cubes, tomatoes, and lettuce in a large bowl. Pour the chickpeas over top and add as much (or all) of the dressing. Toss well. Drizzle on a few tablespoons of the chimichurri and toss well. Taste and add more if desired – or season with salt and pepper if you find it needs it. Crumble in the feta and toss. Eat up!

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

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