Blueberry-Strawberry Salad with Homemade Croutons

Week seven happened to occur right smack in the middle of an incredibly busy week for me (being an independent freelancer has it perks, but sometimes I work ALL the time), so I didn't do a lot of creative cooking. I did, though, manage to put together some basic dishes using the produce, and was especially grateful for strawberries (everyone in my family loves them), zucchini (one of the few veggies my picky 4-year old will eat) and eggs, which are so versatile.

It dawned on me while I was throwing together a simple salad for dinner that every single ingredient in the dish I was making, while not all sourced from my CSA, was local. I was pretty excited about this, as I couldn't remember any other specific example from dishes past that used all local ingredients, from soup to nuts. Or should I say, from lettuce to croutons.

Blueberry-Strawberry Salad with Homemade Croutons

Bag of mesclun greens (Pete's Greens CSA)
1 pint strawberries, sliced (also Pete's Greens)
1 pint blueberries (Paul Mazzas in Essex, VT)
1/2 loaf day-old bread, cubed (Pete's Greens, baked by Red Hen Baking Co.)
1 T butter (I used Cabot Coop)
2 T olive or sunflower oil (I used sunflower oil from CSA)
Maple Grove Ginger Pear Salad Dressing

Place greens in a salad bowl, and top with sliced strawberries and blueberries.

Melt the butter in a frying pan with the oil. Add the cubed bread and sautee until lightly brown. Remove to a cookie sheet (season if you wish) and bake in a 325 oven until golden.

Top the salad with the croutons and salad dressing. This salad would also be excellent topped with a fresh goat cheese or feta cheese. Maple Grove Farms, located in St. Johnsbury, VT, makes some amazing dressings, most of which would be great on a simple salad like this one: Strawberry Balsamic, Maple Fig, Champagne Vinaigrette.