Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 6 thick slices day old ciabatta bread
• 6 vine ripened Roma tomatoes
• 1 small red onion
• 1/2 telegraph cucumber
• 4 large spring onons
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup basil leaves, roughly torn
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 avodadoes
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Remove the crusts from the bread and place into a bowl of water. Remove the bread and squeeze out the water by rubbing your hands together, this produces small, slightly damp breadcrumbs, set aside.

Peel, de-seed and dice tomatoes. Peel and dice onions, skin and remove seeds from middle of cucumber. Finely slice spring onions.
In a large bowl gently mix all the vegetables together. Add the prepared bread and torn basil leaves.
Cover and leave to chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Just before serving, in a small bowl or glass jar with a lid mix together olive oil, vinegar, mustard, sugar and whisk well to make dressing.
Peel and dice the avocadoes and sprinkle them with a little fresh lemon juice to stop them from browning.
Carefully combine the avocado with the chilled salad ingredients. Pour dressing over the salad ingredients and toss well. Add a few more basil leaves and season to taste. Leave to stand for 15 minutes to soak up the dressing. Serve in chilled bowls.