Turn old bread into a low-cost summer salad

The best bet for stretching your food budget — use every bit of what you buy. Even stale bread.

The Italians have understood this for a long time. Which explains their panzanella, or bread salad. This summery salad features stale bread, ripe tomatoes and almost anything else you have in your vegetable bin, including carrots, bell peppers, even diced avocado.

To make this salad (which costs less than $1 per serving) into a more substantial meal, just dig deeper into your pantry or fridge. Canned tuna, sardines, anchovies or leftover cold chicken and hard-boiled eggs all add convenient and satisfying protein.

If you don't have any leftover bread, look in the bakery section at your market where they often sell day-old bread cheap.

LEFTOVER BREAD AND TOMATO SALAD

Start to finish: 20 minutes

Servings: 6

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar

2 shallots, minced (about 1/3 cup)

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 ½ pounds ripe tomatoes, diced and seeded

4 cups cubed, crusty bread (such as Italian or French)

1 cucumber, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

10 fresh basil leaves, shredded

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, shallots, salt and pepper.

Add the tomatoes, bread, cucumber and basil, then toss thoroughly to combine. Let the salad sit for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve at room temperature.

Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 159 calories; 71 calories from fat; 8 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 19 g carbohydrate; 4 g protein; 3 g fiber; 319 mg sodium.