Bread salad recipe

Grand, crisp croutons, salty fish and roasted veg make this bread salad utterly appealing.

This recipe is the perfect way to use up a leftover loaf that is starting to go stale. Pretty much any bread will work, but sourdough will hold its shape better as it soaks up the juices of the dressing. Using a wholemeal loaf ups the fibre content of the salad and makes it nice and filling. In fact, this salad is packed with healthy ingredients, from oily sardines to fresh spinach and juicy tomatoes. It's perfect for a sunny weekend lunch. You can even save the rest to eat the next day - the flavours will improve from being left to infuse.

Ingredients

• 1 red onion, sliced into wedges
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 250g heritage tomatoes, halved
• 150g wholemeal sourdough, roughly torn apart
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• ½ tbsp lemon rind shavings
• 2 x 120g tins lemon sardines (we used Waitrose)
• 75g spinach leaves
• 45g black olives
• 30g basil leaves, torn

For the dressing:

• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 125ml olive oil
• 3tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1tsp Dijon mustard

Method

1. Heat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4. Place the red onion wedges on a baking tray, drizzle with 1tbsp of the olive oil and roast for 15mins, then add the tomatoes and roast for a further 10 mins.
2. Meanwhile, put the chunks of bread on a separate baking tray, drizzle with the other 1tbsp olive oil, scatter over the garlic and lemon rind and roast for 10 mins until golden.
3. Meanwhile, combine all of the dressing ingredients and stir in the roasted tomatoes, then season to taste.
4. In a large bowl, combine the bread, onions, sardines, spinach, olives and basil leaves, stir through dressing with the tomatoes and serve.

Top tip for making bread salad

Swap the sardines for smoked mackerel fillets, or a drained tin of tun in brine.

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