Worth the Garlic Breath

Just made up a really delicious mock Caesar salad.  Why "mock"?  Because I left out the anchovies.  Why leave out the anchovies?  Because hairy, greasy fish just ain't my thang.

OK, let's do this:

Fishless Caesar
total time 5 min


for the dressing:
1/4 c mayo
2 t mustard
3 cloves garlic, minced
juice from 1 lemon
1 t soy sauce
cracked black pepper
---------------------------
Romaine lettuce, chopped
these croutons
handful of parmesan cheese, shredded

Combine the dressing ingredients and toss over lettuce and croutons.  Sprinkle with cheese.  (Were these instructions necessary?.....)

Stop Buying That Shit!

A lot of things make me crazy: leaf blowers, the down time between seasons of True Blood....but what really makes me batty is to see people buying things that are so easy to make.  Like croutons.

It takes almost no time or ingredients (or even skills) to make great croutons, but people always buy them.  Sure, ready made boxed stuff is convenient, but it also contains crap like corn syrup.  Just make 'em yourself.  It's a great way to use that bread that's a little too stale or that toast you started to make and then forgot about because you thought you heard that Real Housewives of New York starts tonight and you had to drop everything and run to the TV to make sure it was set to record and then you were distraught because it's actually not until April 7th and that's really far away......

OK, let's do this:

Garlic Croutons
hands on time 2 min, total time 15 min


4 cups bread cut or torn into bite sized pieces
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried oregano

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.  Bake on a cookie sheet until crunchy (about 15 min), turning once.