A Friend to Salad
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Food on Monday, June 28, 2010 9:59 PM
In summer, we love dinner salads.
We start with lettuce, and add a protein. Chicken or crumbled bacon with chopped boiled eggs are our favorites. Then we toss in whatever vegetables, fruits, or nuts we’re in the mood for, and voila! A cool dinner that’s perfect for hot weather.
I know there are many men who would not consider a salad to be sufficient for dinner. I’m lucky to have a husband who will tolerate it, at least. But there’s one easy way to make him (and all of us) a little more excited about our salad: homemade croutons!
Have you made them? I hadn’t until a couple years ago, and when I did, I wondered why it had taken me so long. Homemade croutons are simple, and in my opinion they really take a salad to the next level of deliciousness.
And the nice thing is, in summertime, you can make them in the cool of the morning and have them on your salad that evening. Perfect!
Croutons
Leftover crusty bread
Olive oil (about ½ cup per loaf of bread)
Seasonings to taste (kosher salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, etc)
1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Chop bread into cubes of desired size for croutons. (I like mine in about 1-inch cubes, but you might like bigger or smaller.) (They don’t have to actually be cubes - any shape is fine.)
3. Put cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet (you might need more than one sheet if you have a whole loaf of bread). Drizzle with olive oil, then toss to coat cubes. Sprinkle with seasonings.
4. Bake until desired crunchiness, about 30-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
5. In a sealed bag or container, the croutons will stay good for a week or more. (Not that they’ve ever lasted that long at our house!)
Variations: if you want to get fancy, you can make garlic oil. Heat the oil with a couple of peeled, crushed garlic cloves in a small pan over low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Discard the cloves and use the oil as directed in the recipe.
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