Instead of serving up the same old salad every time friends come around for a barbeque, surprise them with this simple mango and avocado panzanella

Panzanella is a traditional Tuscan recipe which literally translates to peasant salad.

Like so many recipes from Italy, it makes use of common ingredients that would have been available to even the poorest families, hence the name.

It’s usually based around stale bread, tomatoes and onions. Three ingredients that are always on hand in every Italian kitchen.

At my family’s recent New Year gathering, one of my jobs was to bring along a salad. I didn’t want just any old salad though, I wanted something different, something interesting . . .

I started thinking about what is fresh and in-season here in the tropics in summer.

I started thinking mangoes.

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