Italian Salad with Pieces of Bread
Six ingredients and 10 minutes. Toasted whole wheat bread cut into crunchy cubes, tossed with ripe tomato wedges, cool cucumber, and thin rings of red onion in a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.
Researchers found that raw vegetables eaten with fat-free dressing produced essentially zero absorption of nutrients like lycopene, the pigment behind a tomato's red. This salad's 23 ml of olive oil clears the threshold they identified for meaningful uptake.
A 383-calorie lunch that takes less time to build than it does to eat.
Six ingredients and 10 minutes. Toasted whole wheat bread cut into crunchy cubes, tossed with ripe tomato wedges, cool cucumber, and thin rings of red onion in a simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.
Researchers found that raw vegetables eaten with fat-free dressing produced essentially zero absorption of nutrients like lycopene, the pigment behind a tomato's red. This salad's 23 ml of olive oil clears the threshold they identified for meaningful uptake.
A 383-calorie lunch that takes less time to build than it does to eat.
Ingredients
- bread, whole wheat 2 slices
- red onion 0.5
- tomatoes 2
- cucumber 0.5
- olive oil 1.5 tablespoon
- vinegar 0.5 tablespoon
Method
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Toast the bread and cut it into cubes. Slice the onion into thin rings. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and the cucumber into cubes.
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Prepare a dressing using the oil and vinegar. Season it with salt and pepper.
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Mix the bread cubes with the onion, tomatoes, and cucumber in a bowl. Toss the dressing with the Italian salad.
Toast the bread cubes until they are deeply golden and crisp on the outside. They soften fast once the dressing hits, so toss the salad right before eating. If you combine everything ahead of time, the cubes turn to mush within thirty minutes.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Why olive oil instead of a lighter dressing?
Flavor aside, researchers found that raw vegetables eaten with fat-free dressing produced essentially zero absorption of fat-soluble nutrients like the lycopene in tomatoes. Adding fat to the dressing significantly improved uptake, with a threshold of about 6 grams of added fat for meaningful absorption. This salad's olive oil provides roughly 21 grams, well above that threshold.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I bring this to work without the bread getting soggy?
Keep the toasted bread cubes in a separate container and toss them in right before eating. The cubes absorb dressing fast and lose their crunch within about 30 minutes of contact. The vegetables and dressing travel fine together on their own.
Is 9 grams of protein enough for a meal?
This salad has 9 grams of protein, mostly from the whole wheat bread. For a recipe built around vegetables, bread, and olive oil, that is expected. Common additions in Italian bread salads include hard-boiled eggs, white beans, or mozzarella, though the macros listed here reflect the base recipe as written.
