I love panzanella.

I made it for dinner tonight, using tomatoes from our garden and heirlooms from the farmers market. The ripe tomatoes get cut up in bite-sized pieces and placed in a colander over a salad bowl. They're sprinkled with kosher salt and pressed down with a large spoon so the juices drip down into the bowl. Every now and then I added a bit of salt, stirred them, and pressed them again.

I picked basil outside and rolled the leaves together and cut them into thin strips. Can't remember the fancy word for that. Minced up a small clove of garlic, and added the garlic and basil to the bowl of tomato juices, along with olive oil and white wine vinegar.

Meanwhile my daughter ripped sourdough bread into bite-sized pieces and drizzled them with olive oil. We toasted them for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Once the bread pieces are cool, they get mixed with the tomato juices and tomato pieces. The bread soaks up the juices and turns pink, and it's all heavenly.

We had the panzanella with a little provolone cheese on the side, and oven-roasted corn from the farmers market, topped with Trader Joe's chili-lime seasoning.

This is my absolute favorite summer dinner.