Photo By: S. Duquet

Happy first week of the Vegan 30 day Challenge. We have not yet noticed any significant changes  except for the fact that we are both always hungry and I am not even kidding.  If this has happened to you, please share so we don’t feel like weirdos.

Here is a hearty salad I think you will  really enjoy. I used the freshiest, fresh summer veggies from the market and a really hearty, seeded bread for the croutons. The beauty of this salad is that you can ad lib using what you have. It is a mixture of fresh veggies and fresh roasted veggies with handcrafted croutons and a dressing. This is a fool proof masterpiece because you will spend significantly less time creating this dish than it will seem. Bonus. How often in cooking does that happen? Rarely.

Crouton Ingredients:

2 Cups of cubed bread (I used million grain whole wheat from a large loaf, not sliced bread)

1Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 Teaspoon Chili Oil

1/8 Teaspoon garlic powder

Salt & Pepper to taste

Roasted Vegetables

1 Small Summer Squash (I used yellow) chopped in ½ inch pieces

½ Red Pepper chopped ½ inch pieces

3 Roma Tomatoes Cubed

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

½ Teaspoon Chili Oil

½ Teaspoon dried Thyme and Rosemary finely chopped

1/8 Teaspoon garlic powder

Cold Veggie Ingredients

½ Cucumber chopped

½  Cup parsley rough chopped

1/4 C  Kalamata Olives rough chopped

1/2 C  Basil Leaves cut in chiffonade style  (set aside for finishing touches)

1 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing

Make it Happen:

Croutons

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the crouton oils and seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add bread cubes and toss to coat. Put coated bread cubes on a baking sheet  and bake until brown and toasty. I cooked them until they were very crispy. At first I thought they were over done, but when they were mixed with the veggies, they were perfect and did not get soggy. Transfer baked croutons to a bowl and set aside.

Kick the oven up to 425 degrees.

Roasted Veggies

You can sauce up the veggies for roasting in the same bowl that you used for the croutons so you don’t have to dirty a ton of dishes. Put all ingredients except the veggies in the bowl and mix well. Add the vegetables and toss to coat. Place veggies in a single layer on the same sheet pan you used for the croutons. Roast for 18-20 minutes.  Once the veggies in the oven are roasted, let them cool, then cover and let chill in the fridge.

Cold Veggies

While the other veggies are roasting, put the chopped cukes, olives and parsley in a bowl with one Tbsp. of  Balsamic Vinaigrette salad dressing. Toss to coat. Cover and put in the fridge to chill.

Finishing Touches

Put all veggies in a large bowl with a splash of the same Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing ( I ran out of dressing and used Balsamic vinegar which was delicious too). Add the chopped Basil and croutons. Mix well and let sit for five minutes so the croutons can become friendly with the veggies. Serve and prepare to be lavished with praise and asked where you purchased such a gourmet salad.

Photo By: S. Duquet

At first glance, this recipe  looks like a lot of work and a lot of ingredients, but the truth is that it is the perfect kitchen sink recipe. Use whatever bread you have, whatever veggies you have on hand. Shrooms, asparagus, Hungarian wax peppers, yum! Green olives, heirloom tomatoes, beets…..use any dressing you have with whatever veggies you have to roast. Toss with your hand crafted croutons and you can not lose. Roasted veggies, cold veggies, crave-able croutons and a dressing…done!

Finished salad makes four smallish servings or two huge ones. We are seriously hungry girls.

Have a delicious day.

Tags: 30 day challenge, bread salad, compassionate eating, dairy free, going veg, homemade croutons, roasted veggie bread salad, trying vegan, trying vegetarian, vegan challenge, vegan experience, vegan recipe