I’m italian so this one is near and dear to my heart. I love all things italian, from olives to artichokes. This salad can be customized to your liking in every way. It’s flavorful and my favorite part are the homemade croutons. I could seriously sit and eat them all.
To make the croutons you will slice up whatever bread you have lying around into squares. I like to use the ends of loafs because otherwise they just get thrown away. Place butter and italian dressing (I prefer Kraft Zesty Italian) in the microwave until butter is melted.
Add garlic salt and bread, little amounts at a time. Coat each one but don’t drench them or else they won’t get crispy. Place them onto a cookie sheet and no need to coat the sheet, the butter will not allow them to stick.
Bake them according to the recipe below and viola they are ready to be served.
This is a great salad to serve for a dinner party. I find it to be one that most people enjoy. Serve the dressing on the side and offer up Greek dressing as an option as well. If you’d like to make it dairy free keep the cheese and croutons on the side.
Italian Salad
Ingredients
– Romaine Lettuce
– Cucumbers (I prefer English)
– Bell Peppers (sweet baby peppers are perfect)
– Tomatoes
– Red Onion
– Marinated Artichoke Hearts
– Black Olives
– Pepperoncinis
– Salami
– Homemade Croutons
-Italian or Greek Dressings
Homemade Croutons
Ingredients
-Bread (cubed)
-1 stick of butter
-Italian Dressing (I prefer Kraft Zesty Italian)
-Garlic Salt
- Preheat oven to 375
- Cube the bread. Melt 1 Tb of butter for every 1/2 cup of dressing. Start with 2 Tb of butter and about 1 cup of dressing. Melt butter in the dressing otherwise the butter will harden up if mixed in cold dressing. Mix well after melting the butter and add 1/2 tsp garlic salt.
- Mix mixture well and add cubes a little at a time. Coat each cube but do not drench them.
- Place them on a baking sheet. You can line it with a baking liner but do not spray with any coating otherwise it will make the croutons soggy.
- Bake them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown on top. Flip and bake again for about 10 more minutes. Watch to make sure they aren’t burning. If your croutons soaked up quite a bit of dressing they will take a bit longer to cook.
- Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
