In most towns and cities there's a local community center, thrift store or church where local grocery stores donate their bakery items rather than throw them away. In our town it's a small little thrift store. Occasionally we stop in for needed household items, and we typically grab some bread, artisan loaves that are a bit dry and ready to turn. Two days ago we got a garlic peppercorn loaf, which I served half of in toasted slices with linguica, fried eggs and salsa for dinner last night. Today I made the rest into croutons. PLEASE NOTE, UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY STRUGGLING, YOU DON'T HAVE TO CONSIDER THE BREAD A HAND OUT. YOU CAN EASILY DONATE A DOLLAR OR TWO TO THE LOCAL CHARITY PROVIDING THE BREAD. THE ****ONLY**** REASON I SUGGEST ACQUIRING DAY-OLD-BREAD IN THIS MANNER IS BECAUSE MOST GROCERY STORES DON'T SELL THEIR DAY-OLD BREAD. MOST DON'T. So before anyone gets stabby and attacks over me suggesting "mooching" food or something, I am suggesting how to get bread on the cheap and helping out local charities. Having decided to essentially start my life over at almost 40-years-old HAS left me pretty damn penniless, and I have a lot of people to feed -- but I do give back for what I take. So again, if you do acquire bread this way, free or on the cheap, please consider giving back via a donation of even a dollar. Or even of your time. EVERY CHURCH AND/OR CHARITY needs volunteers.
Preheat oven to 325F. Slice whatever bread you're using (yes, you can do it with white bread or wheat bread loaves, and yes it'll still be good -- you can use any bread, but I highly suggest making your own croutons whenever bread starts to dry out. You are not being wasteful, and if your family loves croutons like mine does -- it'll save a good $10-12 a month) and then cube. Place on a cookie sheet, drizzle lightly with olive oil, toss to spread oil around amongst the cubes. Sprinkle with herbs of your choosing. Today I used an herb pepper, a little sea salt, and that's it. Rubbed sage makes a really great crouton, as does sprinkling Parmesan cheese on them. Toss again to spread your seasonings. Or have the kids toss, and have the kids sprinkle the herbs and salt and cheese. And let them toss again.
Place on upper rack of oven for 12 minutes, tossing every four minutes to ensure even toasting. Let cool and dry. Oven temps vary so if you need to keep them in longer just so long as they are nicely toasted through -- and crunchy -- like a crouton. Duh. Just call me Captain Obvious! OBVIOUSLY young children should not be tossing croutons in the oven, or near the oven, so this is all on you mom or dad. However, they can bag em up once they're cool.
Now for the salad . . . when I was pregnant with my eldest I was obsessed with eating the same meal, at least three times a week, at a restaurant chain that has sadly, gone the way of the Buffalo here on the West Coast. It was called Vie De France. The meal I had to have was a brie and pate platter with their amazing, amazing French bread. And that was 15 years ago so don't even think of calling the pregnancy police on me for eating Brie. French Onion Soup and a small spring salad with homemade croutons and creamy dill dressing. Later, after Eden had been born I went to a playgroup meeting and lunch and someone brought the spring mix salad with bacon and strawberries. She was a "dairy free" momma so her's had a balsamic vinaigrette (still just as good, if you are also dairy free). Still I nommed so much of that salad and kept dreaming of it with my precious dill dressing! When I finally combined all three? I was NOT disappointed.
As a lover of Ranch Dressing it's not really a reach to go for the dill, but imagine my delight when I found Hidden Valley has a "creamy dill dip" powder. I love making my own dill dressing from scratch, but today I just didn't have the dill. Much less the energy. So I used this package. Simply half the sour cream required for a dip, and fill the rest with lowfat milk (8oz of each, respectively) . Whip all together and chill for an hour in the refrigerator. Kids can make this dressing very easily and will love being part of the process.
For the salad, I suggest a spring mix, because the bacon and strawberries go really good with a darker leaf veggie. So fry your bacon, then crumble. Slice your strawberries, slice half a red onion, toss (or let your kids toss) all together with creamy dill dressing (or vinaigrette) , top with homemade croutons! Voila! One of the best salads ever. I have no idea why strawberries and bacon go so well together, much less with dill dressing, but I thank the food Gods for showing me this!
Note: homemade croutons are an excellent snack food as well as a salad topper. You can save a fortune in chips and crackers just using day-old artisan bread and letting the kids make their own snacks and choose their own flavors. Store in ziploc bags in a cool dark cabinet. They'll last for weeks! Best part, no preservatives!
No comments:
Post a Comment