Summer Italian Bread Salad

• 1 loaf of Italian bread or 3 slices of 1'' thick farmhouse bread (stale bread is best but we can cheat; see below!)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 1/2 pounds tomatoes; chopped
• 1 cup cucumber; peeled, seeded, chopped
• 1/4 cup or more of Parsley; roughly cut
• 1/4 cup chopped olives; or cut in half..no seeds please!
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1/2 tbsp pine nuts
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• (* if you like these you could add them for extra flavour and taste)

1. Cut the loaf into slices first (don't cut them into 1'' cubes just yet). Make sure the slices are chunky enough so it gives a good bite.
2. Cut a garlic in half and rub it against the bread slices. You may also want to rub some (just a little) olive oil into the bread.
3. Now place the slices on the grill or broiler (or in the toaster). Make sure they don't get burned. You want them slightly charred. Just until you can see golden brown bits on them. Flip them once in a while until you get the desired effect.
4. Now remove the bread from the grill and let them chill for a bit.
5. Seperately, mix all other ingredients in a bowl and remember to enjoy the smells!
6. For the tomatoes, you could press on them with the back of a fork or spoon to squish them a little. Don't worry about the juices.
7. Go back to your bread and cut them so they become 1'' cubed pieces of bread. They should look something like croutons.
8. Add the bread to the salad mix and stir.
9. Let it sit there for at least 30 minutes. Or until the bread has soaked up some of the liquid.
10. Add in the pine nuts.
11. Add the cheese now if you want. You could do it earlier but I find the cheese may crumble too much, unless that's what is desired.

italian bread, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, red onion, garlic, tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, olives, capers, nuts, salt, could

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/summer-italian-bread-salad-50021769 (may not work)