Homemade Croutons & Bagel Pizzas

I love a salad with croutons. But- most of the time, we don't have any store-bought croutons on hand. If we do, I always go with Rothbury Farms. They're my favorite, and they've won the "best taste award". A few nights ago we made some fresh garden salads and I wanted croutons to accompany my salad. Since we had none, I decided to make some. They are so easy and so good; I would say even as good as Rothbury Farms, and great when you're in a crouton pinch. Here's how to make yours:

You'll need: some sort of crusty bread (ciabatta works well), it can even be stale, extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

First, preheat the oven to 400. Then, cut your bread into cubes. You can make them as large or small as you wish. Then, spread the cubes out on a cookie sheet. Drizzle them with evoo, and sprinkle with the garlic, salt, and pepper. Toss them all together to get the flavors on all of the cubes. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they are light brown and crispy. Done!
You can also play with the seasonings if you'd like. I think that dried basil, oregano, or parsley would also be a nice addition.



Last night we made bagel pizzas, a recipe from September's Cooking Light. This was a recipe that was featured in the 20 minute Back to School section of the magazine. For the first round, I strictly followed the recipe. Then, I made another round for husband's and my lunch today. I spruced these up a bit. Here's how to make my adapted version:

You'll need (for 2 servings): 2 bagels, split, about 1 cup of pizza or marinara sauce (we used Classico pizza sauce=good), 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 medium/large grilled chicken breast cut into small slices, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tbs dried basil, and 1 tbs dried oregano.

Preheat the broiler to 400. At this point, if you need to, grill the chicken. Place the bagels, cut side up, on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven for 2-3 minutes until toasted. Next, spread the marinara sauce over the bagel slices. Next sprinkle the garlic, basil, and oregano over the sauce. Then, top with the chicken and cheese and place back into the oven for 3-5 minutes until the cheese has melted. Done!

The meal did prove to be just about 20 minutes (including grilling the chicken). If you don't have time to grill chicken, you could use Tyson's pre-cooked grilled chicken strips, found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. I also don't think that you need to measure out the ingredients, which could be another time saver. Just sprinkle until it looks pizza-like!



Tomorrow is Friday, enjoy!