Spring Panzanella

2 posts on a week - I'm on a roll!
Ebon bought a baguette at the farmer's market on Tuesday, so it needed to be used up before it was too hard to chew. I wasn't in the mood for pasta, so I suggested a bread salad - aka panzanella. I had tried the recipe from 101 Cookbooks before and it was pretty good. I had attempted it again a month or two ago, but - heaven's to Betsy, I used wheat bread and canned peas. Ebon didn't want to have anything to do with it. I will admit, I didn't like canned peas either - much better with fresh or frozen - but they were in our pantry taking up space, so I thought I would use them. This go around was much more well received.

I followed the recipe - mostly. I cut up the 'white' baguette in ~1" cubes and in a large bowl coated the cubes with olive oil and dried thyme. Looking back, I should have also put the garlic in with the bread, as stated in the recipe, but I was more or less going from memory. I put the coated bread on a baking sheet in the oven preheated to ~350degF for about 15-20 min or until they are golden/crispy on the outside. I also flipped/mixed up the bread, maybe half way through.
I pan fried/roasted the asparagus with a little olive oil and I threw the garlic in after I flipped the shoots after 3-5 min. When the asparagus is tender, remove from heat and cut into ~1-2" pieces on the diagonal.
I cooked frozen peas in another pot in a bit of water until they were warmed through.
I had some grape tomatoes on hand an thought they would be good, so I cut them in half, coated them with a little olive oil, and roasted them under a low broil for about 5 minutes to warm them up and bring out a bit of the sugar.

Throw everything in a bowl and add about 1/3-1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also added about 1 teaspoon of dried basil.

I skipped the shallots, fresh basil and spinach and didn't miss them.