I love traditional panzanella salad, an Italian bread salad with tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. It is one of my favorites. I also love creating new recipes, so instead of making the same old panzanella salad I decided to create a panzanella salad with a twist! I made a JalapeƱo Cornbread Panzanella Salad that gives the classic panzanella a run for itās money. It is tasty!
This isnāt your typical salad. You wonāt find any leafy greens here. No siree! Instead you get cubes of toasted jalapeƱo cornbread and lots of other goodies! A carb loaded salad? Whoās in? Both of my hands are raised.
I made a pan of homemade jalapeƱo cornbread, cut the bread into cubes, and toasted them in the oven. I could have stopped right there and eaten the whole baking sheet, but I had my mind set on this salad so I only ate a couple cubesā¦or maybe it was a couple of handfuls:) Whoās counting?
If you are feeling lazy, you can use store bought cornbread or a box mix, but I promise you the jalapeƱo cornbread is worth the extra effort. And it really isnāt hard.
I tossed the jalapeƱo cornbread cubes with charred sweet corn, avocado, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and cotija cheese.
I drizzled a simple cilantro lime dressing over the salad and gave it a good toss!Ā We served the JalapeƱo Cornbread Panzanella Salad at one of our BBQās and it was a smashing success! Everyone loved it!
There arenāt any greens involved, but a salad is a salad. So eat up! This JalapeƱo Cornbread Panzanella Salad is delish!
JalapeƱo Cornbread Panzanella Salad
JalapeƱo Cornbread Panzanella Salad with charred sweet corn, peppers, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, onion, and cotija cheese. We love this flavorful summer salad!
For the JalapeƱo Cornbread:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup course ground yellow cornmeal
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup fresh sweet corn kernels
- 1 jalapeƱo diced, seeds removed
For the Dressing:
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Salt and black pepper to taste
For the Salad:
- 1 ear charred sweet corn kernels removed from cob
- 1 green pepper diced, seeds removed
- 1 red pepper diced, seeds removed
- 3 medium tomatoes chopped
- 1 large avocado diced, seed removed
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1/4 cup cotija cheese
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 8×8 glass baking dish and set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, and eggs until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until combined. Fold in the sweet corn and jalapeƱo. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
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Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool completely.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the cooled cornbread into 1-inch cubes. Place the cubes on a large baking sheet and toast until slightly golden brown, about 20 minutes, turning the cornbread cubes once. Remove the cornbread from the oven and cool completely.
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To make the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, cilantro, honey, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine jalapeƱo cornbread cubes, charred corn, peppers, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, red onion, and cotija cheese in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over the salad and toss. Serve immediately.
Have you tried this recipe?
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