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Start a gas or charcoal grill or preheat the broiler; the rack should be 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.
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Cut the bread lengthwise into quarters.
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Grill or broil the bread, watching carefully and turning as each side browns and chars slightly; total time will be less than 10 minutes.
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4
While the bread cools, mix together the next five ingredients in a large bowl.
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5
Mash the tomatoes with the back of a fork to release all of their juices.
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6
Season to taste with salt and pepper to taste.
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Cut the bread into 1/2- to 1-inch cubes (no larger) and toss it with the dressing.
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8
Let the bread sit for 20 to 30 minutes, tossing occasionally and tasting a piece every now and then.
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9
The salad is at its peak when the bread is fairly soft but some edges remain crisp, but you can serve it before or after it reaches that state.
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When it's ready, stir in the herb and serve.
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11
Bread salad is a way of making good use of stale bread.
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The bread is softened, usually with water, olive oil, lemon juice, or a combination, then tossed with tomatoes and a variety of seasonings.
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Like many old-fashioned preparations created as a way to salvage food before it goes bad (count pickles and jam among these), bread salad has an appeal of its own.
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This is especially true in the summer, when good tomatoes are plentiful and may lead to the rather unusual problem of waiting around for bread to become stale.
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Or, of course, making it stale.
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I'd always solved this problem by drying bread in the oven until I realized that using the grill or broiler would not only dry the bread more quickly but, by charring the edges slightly, add another dimension of flavor to the salad.
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This procedure is really the same as making toast--exposing the bread to direct heat (rather than the indirect heat of the oven) to brown it as well as dry it.
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There's another benefit to grilling the bread in order to dry it out: The added flavor makes it possible to strip the salad to its bare minimum.
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This is a substantial salad, but it's still a side dish unless you're in the mood for a very light meal.
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Because it's juicy, almost saucy, and pleasantly acidic, this salad makes a nice accompaniment to simple grilled meat or poultry, and has a special affinity for dark fish such as tuna and swordfish.
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The only tricks here involve timing.
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You must watch the bread carefully as you grill or broil it; a slight char is good, but it's a short step from there to burned bread.
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And the time you allow the bread to soften after tossing it with the seasonings varies some; keep tasting until the texture pleases you.
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If your tomatoes are on the dry side, you might add a little extra liquid, in the form of more olive oil and lemon juice, or a light sprinkling of water.
