Simple Salad

Simple Salad

The basic green salad seasoned with oil and balsamic vinegar and garnished with croûtons and Romano cheese.

The primary feature of this dish is the use of freshly made croûtons.  While such an endeavor may seem a waste of time, making croûtons is far cheaper and infinitely better than purchasing stale excuses in the salty decline of life.  Total cooking time is 15 min. Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:
1/2 loaf of French bread
1/2 head of Boston lettuce
1/8 lb of Romano cheese
1 clove of garlic

Pantry:
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

Herbs:
pepper

1: sliced croûtons

Steps:
1) Slice 3 slices of bread and cut into cubes for croûtons.
2) Toast them until dry and slightly browned(1).  While they are toasting, wash and cut the lettuce and leave it on a towel to dry.
3) Slice the garlic clove and place into a pan with olive oil.  Heat until garlic begins to sizzle.

4: sauté until golden brown

4) Add the croûtons to the garlic and oil and sauté until golden brown.  Add more oil if necessary.  The addition of too much oil will be very noticeable when they are eaten.
5) Toss salad with balsamic vinegar and oil.  Then garnish with grated Romano cheese and fresh croûtons.
6) Serve with fresh ground pepper to taste.  Add a squeeze of lemon if desired.


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(1) Oven at 400 F for a few minutes.  Watch carefully.