Spinach and lettuce are in season and delicious here.
Remember the wonderful Tuesday-night farmers market I mentioned a couple of posts ago? Well, along with those sweet baby plants I purchased a couple bunches of spinach and lettuce. I combined a bit of spinach and lettuce the diced white parts of a bunch of scallions left over from the scallion and parmesan cornbread we had with dinner last night, then added a little chevre and tuscan tomato dressing and homemade croutons to create one of the best lunches I’ve had in a while. The greens were great, but the croutons really stole the show. They were crunchy and seasoned on the outside, but unlike store-bought croutons they were slightly chewy in the middle–making them much easier to eat with a fork.
To make them, you’ll need:
- Various stale bread bits–we used a combination of sourdough and multigrain that had been left out overnight; together they equaled about half a loaf
- 2-3 T melted butter
- 1 t. garlic powder–fresh garlic very finely diced would probably work well here, but I was too lazy to dice any
- 1 t. onion powder
Preheat oven to 475°. Roughly chop the bread into 1″ cubes. In a large bowl, sprinkle the garlic and onion powders over the cubes and toss. Add the butter and toss again, making sure every cube is coated well. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for no more than ten minutes, stirring the cubes halfway through to prevent burning. Sprinkle on a salad and enjoy!