I love croutons. Back when I refused to eat vegetables, I would simply eat the croutons off of salads. I realize that croutons are one of the less healthy salad garnishes, but they taste so darn good. And if they can get you to eat some greens, croutons are fine by me.
After picking up our CSA basket last week, I realized we were going to need to eat a lot of salad. And rather than buying croutons, I figured I could just make them myself. I’ve never made croutons before, but it turns out that it’s really easy. And super delicious. Beware that you may end up just popping back some croutons and abandoning the salad. Whoops.
Garlic Croutons
whole grain baquette
EVOO
1/8 cup garlic powder
salt
pepper
Turn on the broiler. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Slice the baguette into cubes.
Pour EVOO into a shallow bowl (there’s no measurement included here because you can add more or less depending on the number of croutons you want to make).
Combine garlic power with a dash of salt and pepper in a small bowl to make your seasoning.
Using a few baguette cubes at a time, drop them into the EVOO, then transfer to the seasoning bowl (tongs will make this task easier and cleaner). Coat the croutons with seasoning and place in a single layer on the parchment paper lined pan.
Once all the croutons are seasoned, place the pan on the top rack of the oven. Watch your croutons carefully, as the broiling process will only take 2-4 minutes. The first batch I attempted were a bit charred, but they had the most wonderful crunch. Just beware that there is a fine line between perfectly crisped and completely fried.
Enjoy your croutons on top of some fresh greens.
-Ally
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