Panzanella-Style Beef And Noodles Summer Salad Recipe

Summer is the time to enjoy light recipes brimming with fresh flavors while still enjoying a satiating meal. Green salads are great for showcasing garden lettuces, but we need a bit more sustenance to get us through the day. Tasting Table recipe developer Kara Barrett brings us this panzanella-style beef and noodles summer salad recipe that has everything you'd want in one bowl. She shares, "I'm a fan of fusion-inspired dishes and I've been watching a lot of Tucci's 'Searching for Italy' lately." If it's unfamiliar, panzanella is a salad traditionally made with stale bread soaked with olive oil and tomato juices. 

"I love putting an unexpected twist on a dish," Barrett notes about this recipe and adds, "I'm a big pasta and bread fan." If you're thinking this might be carb overload, Barrett reassures us, "It's not over-the-top or overly indulgent. It's still relatively light for summer and goes well with fresh tomatoes and the miso vinaigrette." Even better, some of the prep can be done in advance. "This is 100% a summer dish for those days you dread spending hours in the kitchen but still want something delicious and light," Barrett describes. Once you try this version, follow her lead when she says, "I expect to make some big batches of these during the next few months and play with different versions of my vinaigrette and veggies to mix things up."

For this recipe, you'll need bread, torn by hand — crustier styles work well here. Next, get olive oil, chop some tomatoes, and measure out fine sea salt, red miso paste, Sherry vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and ginger paste. The protein comes from a cut of ribeye, and soba noodles round out the carbs. Finally, fresh chopped basil adds a pleasant aromatic element to the final dish. 

"It's pretty easy to riff on the ingredients and give it your own twist," Barrett shares and suggests you can, "Spice up the sauce a little or add a little more sweetness."

Add the torn pieces of bread and olive oil to a skillet on medium-high heat. Toast the bread until it's nice and golden then set it aside. Barrett warns, "The trick is to crisp the bread to keep a little crunch and avoid the dreaded sogginess that turns most people off to panzanella."

Next, add the chopped tomatoes to a bowl and toss them with salt. Set the bowl aside until it's time to combine the ingredients. 

Add the red miso, Sherry vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and ginger to a medium bowl and whisk the contents until they are smoothly combined. Set the sauce aside.

To cook the meat, place a skillet on high heat and add olive oil to the pan. Then sear the ribeye for 3 to 4 minutes per side. When the meat cools down a bit, slice it into thin strips and set it aside.

Check your package of soba noodles and follow the cooking instructions. Barrett notes that it typically entails boiling the noodles for 6 minutes in unsalted water. Once cooked, rinse them properly in cold water until the water is clear, "to get rid of the starch," Barrett explains. She recommends adding them to the sauce soon after, "or add a little oil to keep them from sticking." 

Transfer the noodles to a large bowl with the sauce and cooked meat. Before adding the tomatoes, drain off the juices then throw them in too. Toss all of the ingredients to combine.

Finish this panzanella-style beef and noodles summer salad with a garnish of fresh chopped basil and sesame seeds if desired. Barrett likes to serve it chilled and notes that anyways, "It will come together chilled a bit because you will rinse the noodles in cold water until the water runs clear." Plus, this means that you can eat it straight out of the fridge or let it come to room temperature. 

"I feel like this could be a fun weekly meal prep salad," Barrett muses, and recommends, "Just keep the bread separate and toss with the noodles before serving." She points out, "It would also make a unique salad to bring to your next cookout."