Tag: Croutons

caesar salad with whole-wheat garlicky croutons

lettuce mustard bread salads croutons anchovies salad greens

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This is a fun salad—and it makes a head of romaine into a complete meal. You can make a double batch of this dressing and refrigerate the leftovers in a jar for a meal later in the week, so you’re cooking once for two dinners.
It’s a great dish for company, and it’s very easy to bring it along to a potluck dinner—just bring all the components separately, and don’t dress the salad until you’re ready to sit down and eat. (Otherwise, the lettuce will wilt before you eat it.) It’s based on a recipe from Peggy Knockerbocker’s book Olive Oil: From Tree to Table.

I generally just serve this as an entire dinner, because who wants to eat anything else? However, if you feel you need a little extra protein, it’s very nice topped with slices of grilled chicken breast or halibut (season with salt and pepper before grilling).

dressing:

half of a 2-ounce tin of oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained, rinsed and blotted dry on paper towels
3 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 egg (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
fresh-ground pepper

In a food processor or blender, combine the anchovies and garlic and process to mix. Add the egg, most of the lemon juice, and the mustard and process to combine. With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a thin, steady stream. Season with pepper and process again. Taste, and add as much of the remaining lemon juice as needed to get a good balance of flavors. Refrigerate until you’re ready to eat.

salad & croutons:

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 to 2 large heads romaine lettuce, or 3 hearts of romaine
5 slices hearty whole-grain bread (preferably whole-wheat sourdough)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash the garlic with the salt in the bottom of a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the olive oil. Cut the slices of bread into ½” cubes and toss them in the garlicky oil until the oil is thoroughly absorbed and distributed. Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes, until the croutons are crispy and golden-brown.
2. While the croutons are baking, wash the lettuce, dry the leaves and tear into pieces, and place in a large salad bowl.
3. When you’re ready to sit down and eat, drizzle some of the dressing over the leaves and toss, adding more dressing as needed until all the leaves are coated. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, toss again to mix, and then toss in the croutons. Sprinkle with pepper and serve right away, before the lettuce wilts.

chopped greek salad with garlicky croutons

tomatoes bread olives croutons lemon salads vinaigrette arugula cucumbers salad greens

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This recipe reminds me of a salade nicoise (the recipe for my salade nicoise is in the farmers market cookbook, and on the web), but it’s inspired by Greek flavors, and it’s a lot easier to do, since you don’t have to cook the green beans and roast the potatoes. It’s inspired by a recent recipe in Fine Cooking.

It goes without saying that I like to make my croutons out of Rise & Shine Bakery whole-grain sourdough bread! They make such flavorful little morsels—crunchy and delicious. You can leave the anchovies and/or feta cheese out for a vegetarian or dairy-free meal!

garlicky whole-grain croutons

5 slices hearty whole-grain bread
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash the garlic with the salt in the bottom of a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the olive oil. Cut the slices of bread into ½” cubes and toss them in the garlicky oil until the oil is thoroughly absorbed and distributed.
2. Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes, until the croutons are crispy and golden-brown.

dressing

¼ cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
¼ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice, or white wine vinegar
½ tin of oil packed anchovies, chopped and mashed (about 4 fillets)—optional
----------------------------------
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a bowl, whisk together all the vinaigrette ingredients except the oil. Continue whisking while slowly drizzling in the oil.
2. Correct seasoning to taste—if it’s too sharp and lemony, add a bit more salt and/or oil.

salad

6-8 cups of young arugula, washed and dried (or substitute any salad greens)
2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced into ½-inch pieces
1 English cucumber, seeded and diced into ½-inch pieces
½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
½ cup feta cheese, diced into ½-inch pieces—optional

1. Compose this salad on a large serving platter. Toss the arugula or salad greens with a couple of spoonfuls of the dressing, and make a bed of lettuce on the platter. Then toss the cucumber with a little more of the dressing. Attractively group each component on top of the greens. Drizzle a little more vinaigrette over all the vegetables, if you like. Sprinkle cracked pepper over the top, and enjoy!!
2. When you’re ready to sit down and eat, drizzle some of the dressing over the leaves and toss, adding more dressing as needed until all the leaves are lightly coated. Sprinkle with the optional Parmesan cheese, toss again to mix, and then toss in the croutons. Sprinkle with pepper and serve right away, before the lettuce wilts.

caesar salad nouveau (egg- and dairy-free version)

cabbage bread salads croutons romaine caesar salad greens

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This is the alternative to the classic Caesar with eggs and Parmesan cheese, and while it’s not exactly the same, it’s really delicious! If you’re trying to be a little healthier, but you love to eat Caesar salads as much as I do, you could do this version sometimes, and make the classic version for special occasions!

This recipe is altered quite drastically from the one that inspired me in a cookbook called Veganomicon. It’ll make a meal if you make this salad big enough! Sometimes I’ll slice some cabbage to put in with the lettuce if I don’t have quite enough romaine for everyone I need to feed.

dressing

1/3 cup raw whole almonds
3 cloves garlic, peeled
¾ pound silken tofu (one whole box of tofu in those little aseptic shelf-stable boxes)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 heaping tablespoon capers, drained
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard

1. Pulverize the almonds in your blender. Add the garlic, and blender until the garlic is chopped up a bit. Add the tofu and oil and blend until creamy. (You might have to use a spatula to get it to mix up thoroughly—I recommend only stirring with a spatula when the blender is turned off.)
2. Add the lemon juice, capers and mustard and pulse until blended. (Again, you might have to use your spatula.) Adjust the lemon juice and salt to taste. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

garlicky whole-grain croutons

5 slices hearty whole-grain bread
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash the garlic with the salt in the bottom of a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the olive oil. Cut the slices of bread into ½” cubes and toss them in the garlicky oil until the oil is thoroughly absorbed and distributed.
2. Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes, until the croutons are crispy and golden-brown.

salad

1 to 2 large heads romaine lettuce
¼ of a small green cabbage, sliced thinly (optional)
fresh ground pepper to taste

1. While the croutons are baking, wash the lettuce, dry the leaves and tear or slice into pieces, and place in a large salad bowl with the sliced cabbage.
2. When you’re ready to sit down and eat, spoon some of the dressing over the leaves and toss, adding more dressing as needed until all the leaves are nicely coated. Since the dressing is thick, make sure you toss very thoroughly before adding more dressing—it takes a while to fully coat the leaves.
3. Toss in the croutons, sprinkle with pepper and serve right away, before the lettuce wilts.