Freshly Baked Croutons

I’m back and I’ve missed you!

I spent a wonderful week in Mexico with MD. We spent our days relaxing under the hot sun swimming, playing volleyball, football and ping-pong, exercising, napping and eating. Lots and lots of eating.

We enjoyed so many delicious meals. After beginning seven days with a hearty breakfast, snacking on guacamole, ceviche and pina coladas throughout the afternoon and ending our sunny days with the most amazing dinners we’ve ever had, we just wanted something light to enjoy the day after we returned.

After returning from the grocery store with bags of fresh veggies for a crispy salad, I decided I needed to add a little extra crunch with freshly baked croutons.

These are simply amazing. I have to hide the leftover croutons from MD so we can top salads throughout the week with them. Seriously. He’d eat them as chips if I didn’t sneak them away from the pantry and tuck them back with the pots and pans.

It also packs up perfectly for a delicious work-day lunch.

Hey, good looking. I'll see you around noon today.

I topped a bed of mixed greens with goat cheese, sliced strawberries, corn and croutons with a sweet Italian vinaigrette dressing.

With this very simple recipe, you can enjoy these in about one hour’s time.

Mmmm. Go bake some crunchy croutons this evening! 

Cheers!

Christi

Ingredients:
1/2 loaf crusty French bread

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves fresh garlic (peeled)

Salt to Taste

Directions: 

Slice the bread into thick slices and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Throw them onto a baking sheet.

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan or skillet over low heat.

Peel and crush—but don’t chop—2 cloves of garlic and add them to the oil. Use a spoon to move the garlic around in the pan. After about 3 to 5 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the garlic from the pan.

Slowly drizzle the olive oil over the bread cubes. Mix together with your hands, then sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake at 200º for one hour, shaking the pan occasionally.

One hour after baking, crank up the heat to 400 degrees. Bake them on high heat for just a few minutes.

Credit where credit is due: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/02/my-caesar-salad-part-2/