Cornbread Salad with Arugula and Herbs

This is my kind of summer salad! Seasonal produce, a light vinaigrette, and the grill…all elements that are simply lovely during this time of year. We were already firing up the grill for some grilled chicken breasts, so putting the grill to work on the side dish was an excellent idea.

I had just gotten some local arugula that morning from our local Farmers Market, had plucked a cucumber from the garden, and had some yummy whole wheat cornbread leftover from another dish I had made earlier in the week–all making for the perfect timing to make this salad with a Southern flair.

I think it is important to note that you need to be careful while grilling the strips of cornbread; if you are using a moist cornbread, you really need to be delicate when flipping it because it could easily fall through the grates. In fact, it might be better to use an indoor grill pan if your cornbread is super moist…)

In general, we loved the combination of the fresh greens, the grilled bitter greens and onions, the mustardy dressing, the fresh herbs, and the nutty grilled cornbread croutons. 

Overall, we loved this salad! And if you like cornbread as we do, the unique spin on croutons will be a big hit at your home as well.

This is a very good salad–it’s like a cornbread panzanella almost. It was familiar, yet different. I love the freshness of the salad. I happen to love radicchio but here I found it to be a bit overpowering though. I’d either cut the amount or you could even omit it I think as there are enough other flavors here. I made a southern-style cornbread (it isn’t sweet) but I think for this recipe, a sweet cornbread would actually work better.

For grilling, I used a grill pan inside so I didn’t get that beautiful smoky flavor that I think would add another element here. Using a grill pan takes a bit longer.

This turned out to be the perfect dinner option for a hot summer night. The combination of the greens with the grilled onion and radicchio plus tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs plucked straight out of the garden was light, yet filling. The grilled cornbread, though not crisp and crunchy, lent a sweetness that balanced well against the other ingredients.

I whisked the vinaigrette rather than using the blender, which took about a minute and added the cornbread to the salad after tossing to avoid it breaking up. I then drizzled a little more dressing over the cornbread squares to make sure they absorbed some of the liquid. The cornbread took no more than 30 seconds per side, while the radicchio took more than 2 minutes to begin to wilt. The onions were tender and golden in about 5 minutes.

Along with chopping the onions, I also cut the radicchio into smaller pieces to make the leaves easier to toss and eat with the other ingredients. I used about 1/4 of the amount of cornbread in an 8-inch square pan and that turned out to be just about perfect for the salad. Enough for several cubes with each serving, but not so much that it became the centerpiece. I’ll definitely be making this again.

This recipe is a fun twist on a traditional panzanella salad! My kids and I loved it. The cornbread croutons and the grilled red onion are everything.
I used store-bought mini loaves of cornbread which turned out perfectly as all I had to do was cut the mini loaves in half to get one-inch wide strips for the grill. The store-bought bread is also less crumbly than my homemade bread and for this reason, I would use store-bought again. I also recommend adding the croutons to the top of the salad after it has been tossed. Otherwise, the bread became a tad bit crumbly. 

So great for a summer cookout! The grilled cornbread is such a great touch, and a nice way to use up leftover or stale cornbread. This could be a side or the main event.