Hudson Valley, Westchester & Bronx, NY (RestaurantNewsRelease.com) Summer at Panera Bread is all about fresh foods, fresh flavors — and fresh takes on favorite classics. This commitment to freshness comes through in Panera’s summer menu specials: the Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad, a longtime seasonal favorite, the new Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Salad and the new Frozen Strawberry Lemonade.
The Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad is made with all-natural, antibiotic-free chicken, crisp romaine lettuce and accented with fresh strawberries and blueberries, as well as pineapple, Mandarin oranges and pecans. As a finishing touch, all ingredients are tossed in a fat-free, reduced-sugar Poppyseed dressing, providing a refreshing summer meal option. With only 8 grams of fat and under 300 calories, this salad has all of the flavor with none of the guilt.
While customers crave the Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad year-round, Panera only offers this customer favorite during the summer months when its ingredients are the most flavorful. “It’s hard to say no to a customer, but when we do, it’s because we have their best interests and taste buds in mind,” said Panera’s Head Chef Dan Kish, a former associate dean at the Culinary Institute of America. “We only offer the salad when its star ingredients – the fresh strawberries and blueberries – are at their peak of ripeness,” he explained.
In summertime, people crave a tomato that tastes ripe, is juicy and is full of freshness. For that reason, Panera Bread arranges for more frequent deliveries of its tomatoes to its bakery-cafes, allowing for riper tomatoes to arrive with more taste, creating a better overall tasting Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Salad. This new salad features fresh vine-ripened tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and onions that are marinated in a tangy balsamic vinaigrette before being mixed with fresh mozzarella ciliegine (cherry-sized balls) – all served over field greens and romaine lettuce. By incorporating bite-sized pieces of mozzarella, each mouthful provides a combination of ripe tomatoes and creamy cheese to savor.
The new salad also incorporates fresh Asiago cheese croutons to add textural variety and flavor intensity. Lastly, it’s finished with coarse sea salt, pepper and specially sourced extra virgin olive oil from a farm on the island of Crete in Greece.
Panera’s summer menu is centered around the philosophy that sometimes the natural abundance of the ingredients should be allowed to shine – especially when the recipe’s key component is sweet, succulent lobster. The Lobster Sandwich is superb in its simplicity: generous chunks of real lobster, lightly dressed with mayonnaise on soft, fresh-baked ciabatta. The Lobster Sandwich will appear on menu boards this summer at select bakery-cafes.
Panera’s new Frozen Strawberry Lemonade is a refreshing complement to round out any summer meal. All of Panera’s frozen drinks are blended to order, and the Frozen Strawberry Lemonade is no exception. Striking the ideal balance between sweet and tart, it is made with real strawberry puree and Panera’s signature lemonade. Our Frozen Strawberry Lemonade does not contain any high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavorings.
“Discovering just the right balance between the sweet strawberries and the tart lemonade was a labor of love,” said Tony Diaz, Operations Partner of Take Home the Bread, Franchisee. “Panera Bread spent hours going back and forth calibrating the drink, trying to marry these two bold flavors to create a refreshing frozen drink that tastes and smells just as good as it looks.”
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