Ingredients
Sort of a scrappy extramural stuffing, this is a warm mix of crispy, tender and chewy chunks of bread, moistened with vinaigrette and turkey drippings. It is a holiday variation on our traditional bread salad—I've substituted dried cranberries for the usual dried currants. Tasting as you make it is obligatory, and fun. I recommend you allow a little extra bread and vinaigrette the first time you make this recipe, so you can taste with impunity. For the best texture, use chewy, peasant-style bread with lots of big and little holes in the crumb. Such loaves are usually scaled at 1 or 2 pounds; plan on 1/4-pound bread per person. I don't use sourdough or levain type bread for this recipe, finding the sour flavor too strong and rich for this dish. And make sure to use day-old bread; fresh bread can make a soggy, doughy salad.
Couscous is a pasta by way of North Africa and should be easy to find in the grocery. (Boxes should come with both stovetop and microwave cooking instructions.) This salad is good for when you just can't face another typical pasta salad at your block party, church picnic or family reunion. And this is just one version—feel free to change the herbs or to add any great vegetables you see at the market that weekend.
Use only small young zucchini for this salad.