Colorful Salad with Homemade Herbed Croutons
You know how when you go to buffets or dining halls or salad bars the salads are always SO good? There are so many choices and textures and flavors. There are croutons and veggies and fruits and seeds and peas and dressing and it&amp;#8217;s all so crunchy and wonderful. When I moved off my college campus and away from those salad bars, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and create a salad just as exciting and versatile.&nbsp;
I have figured out that they key components to creating a successful salad are: croutons, good dressing, lots of colors, and small juicy items like peas or corn. I prefer making my own croutons to buying them (cheaper, healthier, more fun). I save the ends of bread (yeah, I don&amp;#8217;t eat the ends, so what) and freeze them. When salad time rolls around I pop them in the microwave, chop them up and sautee them til they are crispy and greasy and delicious.
In terms of dressing, I love tahini dressing or sesame-soy-ginger, but an easy and still yummy way to go is olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice, salt and pepper, or all of the above.&nbsp;
I made this salad with my wonderful best friend, A. She is just getting into cooking and it&amp;#8217;s so much fun to teach her what I know and watch her get excited as she invents new and delicious meals.&nbsp;
You can really put in almost any vegetable and your salad will taste great, but here&amp;#8217;s what we did:
Ingredients:
Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
Frozen peas, cooked and let to cool
Canned corn, drained
Broccoli (raw, or slightly steamed)
Bell pepper&nbsp;
Carrots
Celery
Several pieces bread
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary and thyme
Dressing
Directions:
Defrost bread if necessary, cut into crouton size pieces
Heat olive oil in a pan, add bread and mix around so all the pieces get oily
Add herbs and oil as needed (it takes a bit of oil to get them crispy)
Sautee until croutons are crispy and flavorful (this tends to take at least 10 minutes)
Meanwhile, wash and chop veggies into bite size pieces
Mix veggies and croutons together in a large bowl, add dressing and toss
Serve and enjoy
-N