Autumn Panzanella Salad

During my childhood, my Italian family tolerated turkey at Thanksgiving because tradition required it. After gorging on antipasto, soup, and pasta, we dutifully swallowed a slice of turkey and a few stalks of broccoli rabe, all the while dreaming of the turkey sandwiches on crusty bread we’d enjoy the next day.

Given our lackluster enthusiasm for the bird, one year, my aunt decided to serve a juicy roast chicken instead. She wasn’t prepared for the collective gasps of horror when she placed the platter on the table.

“But no one likes turkey,” she protested.

“Not the point!” we cried.

It wasn’t our disdain for turkey—just indifference. But not serving it on Thanksgiving was blasphemy. Sacrilege. The incident left us all wondering whether the this year’s meal could even qualify as Thanksgiving dinner. Needless to say, she never tried it again.

Thanksgiving is steeped in tradition. Each year, as I slide my turkey into the oven, I’m struck by the fact that nearly every American household is doing the same. We are bound by this shared meal—an expression of gratitude and a homage to our nation’s beginnings.

For those of us who host Thanksgiving, we’ve mastered the art of subtle innovation—altering dishes just enough to add a twist while preserving the familiar flavors everyone expects.

This salad checks many of the holiday’s culinary boxes: sweet potatoes, cranberries, walnuts, and apples. Yet it remains, at its heart, a bread salad—a panzanella in the Italian tradition. Don’t neglect the best part: a generous drizzle of local honey from your farmers market or nearby farmstead. Its gentle sweetness is, quite literally, what makes the salad shine.

Autumn Panzanella Salad

Serves six

6 tablespoons good quality unsalted butter (Kerrigold or Puglia)

6 cups day old sourdough bread, cubed

2 cups baby kale

2 cups cubed sweet potato

2 cups cubed green apple

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

4 ounces crumbled goat cheese

Jar of local honey

For the Dressing:

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar

1 cup blood orange olive oil (Aristan Blood Orange Olive Oil is available online at Amazon). You can substitute 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup orange juice as well.

Generous pinch of kosher salt.

Place shallots, Dijon mustard, white balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Whisk in olive oil and add salt. Set aside.

Preparing the Bread

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Melt the 6 tablespoons of butter in a large bowl. Add the sourdough bread and toss until the bread is coated. Place the bread on a large cookie tray and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.

Bake the bread for 10-15 minutes until it just begins to brown. Shut off the bake setting and set the oven to broil. Broil bread for two minutes until the bread is golden, watching it the whole time so it does not burn. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. (Can be made early in the day or the day before and stored in an air-tight container once the bread is completely cooled.)

Preparing the Sweet Potatoes

Set oven on roast at 350 degrees

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add a tablespoon of salt and the sweet potatoes and boil for two minutes. Drain the potatoes and place on a cookie tray. Roast for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Salad Preparation

Place the bread in a large bowl, Add the kale, sweet potatoes, apples, cranberries, walnuts, and goat cheese and toss gently with the dressing. Plate the salad on six plates and drizzle the salad with the local honey.