The party is over, the guests are gone, and there it is: the leftover white bread.

The next day you don't really feel like doing it either.

So a case for the bread collection bag for the horse?

Not at all!

Claus Eckert

Picture editor.

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Cut the stale baguette, white bread or ciabatta, a good 150 g, into 2–3 cm large cubes and toast them evenly in a heavy pan over a mild heat until it gets a little color in places. It is better to cut very fine-pored bread into smaller cubes. Sift out the crumbs that have become too dark, for example in the vegetable sieve, and throw them away. Boil a brew of 150 ml water and 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar with a bay leaf. Let it cool down and pour it evenly over the roasted cubes, which have also cooled down and mix everything together. The cubes should be evenly slightly damp, not wet.

Quarter about 300 g tomatoes and press out the seeds with the tip of your thumb.

Cut the quarters into large pieces.

Or cut in half the appropriate amount of cherry or cocktail tomatoes.

Dice half a vegetable cucumber from which you scraped the seeds out with a spoon.

Set the remaining watery seeds of tomato and cucumber aside - we may need them later, or they can be used differently.

Cut 2–3 spring onions into rings, generously also the greens.

Do you have any other vegetables in the fridge, for example peppers?

Clean and dice finely.

Now mix the soaked bread cubes with the chopped vegetables.

The bread also draws some water from the vegetables.

The poor horse

Prepare a dressing of 6 tablespoons of olive oil, 1–2 grated garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of capers (with a little brew) and two handfuls of a mixture of fresh chopped parsley, basil and peppermint. With the herbs, I leave you to your good taste and availability in the garden and window boxes. But add the stalks, there is a lot of flavor in them, and they give the salad an additional subtle bite. Do not season with pepper and salt too subtle. Pour the dressing evenly over the bread-vegetable mixture, stirring it around.

Now is the first time to check the consistency of the work.

If it is obviously too dry, add the tomato and cucumber liquid evenly.

Maybe a dash of vinegar, an extra dash of olive oil?

Mix carefully again, we don't want to make porridge, and let it steep for about an hour.

The salad is a meal for several people, a lunch snack the next day in the office or another reason to invite a few guests.

And imagine if there were still torn pieces of a buffalo mozzarella in it ... The poor horse.

The next bag of bread will probably be a long time coming.