Garlic Crouton and the Feisty Greens

When I buy a load of bread, what I'm really doing is committing to a week of sandwiches.  And I'm a sucker for a well-constructed sandwich.  The bread is generally an overlooked ingredient but having made hundreds of sandwiches myself, I can attest that bread choice is where the crafting begins.

As bread slowly stales on its fridge throne, it becomes less and less sandwichable and, so long as mold busies itself with other spoilage endeavors, more and more French-toastable.  Despite the yum factor, the plan is obviously flawed with daily potential to wake up to a science project in place of breakfast.  The anticipation is usually too much to bear so I'm prone to chopping up the remaining bread into friendly little squares for croutonization, a noble death for any and all unwanted load ends.

The choice of shape is only dependent on where your imagination and knife can take you.  I tossed these bad boys in some olive oil followed with many dashes of dried basil and thyme, a healthy sprinkle of salt and a handful of garlic powder.  It's easy to overload on herbs here.  Such power of restraint can seldom be wielded by mortals.  Garlic enthusiasts might go nutzo with their garlic blends, prying open the plastic hatches for better dusting ability.  I urge you to chase that feeling, but with taste testing caution.  Once I found the flavor best suited to my salad style, I panned the final product for a 350 degree air bath.

With the occasional mid-bake toss, the soft squares turned crunchy by the half hour mark.  As it cooled, I took turned my eyes to my humble little arugula plant. 

With a few swift and satisfying cuts, I took down the entire plant, dressed it with cherry tomatoes, croutons, oil and vinegar and called it lunch. 

A pathetically small lunch, but a punchy one.  The arugula was particularly zesty without being overly spicy.  After my five-bite amuse bouche, I cut up the roots with a knife, planted a few more seeds in the still nutritious-looking soil and hoped for the best.  Then I went in search of a bigger meal.