Chicken Panzanella Salad

Ingredients

• 5 cups torn bread pieces
• 1/4 cup chicken drippings or chicken stock
• 4 cups shredded chicken
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup basil, torn
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• Coarse salt
• 6 to 8 mini sweet peppers or shishito peppers
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. If your bread is already dry and crisp, skip the oven and simply pull it into pieces. For bread that is still fairly soft, arrange the pieces in one layer on a baking sheet and bake at 400˚F for about 10 minutes.
2. Once the bread is crisped, move it to a large serving platter, spreading it out as much as you can into a single layer. Spoon or pour the chicken drippings or chicken stock over the bread.
3. Scatter the shredded chicken across the bread so it is evenly distributed. Layer on the tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and basil, then finish the salad with the extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, and a sprinkle of coarse salt.
4. For the optional blistered peppers, warm a drizzle of oil in a small or medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and leave them alone for 3-4 minutes, until they begin to char and blister. Flip them and blister the second side for a few minutes more, then take them out of the pan and season with coarse salt. Chop the peppers and spoon them over the panzanella salad.
5. Leftover salad can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.