My Big Fat Za’atar Crouton Salad

I’m not sure about you, but summer is my busiest time of year with clients, events, and obligations. It feels so full up also because I literally try to play as hard as I possibly can; soaking up the sun, swimming at the pool, getting on my bike or in my hiking and running shoes at literally every opportunity. It’s when I burn it hot – because the season calls me to do so, and it’s when nature (literally, the pull of the doshas) begs me to be playful, active, and alive. The heavy, hot, intense heat of pitta is balanced by playfulness. And, summer is the season our bodies, brains, and spirits have been resting up and waiting for all of the other months of the year; to bloom, to burst open, to soak up the juicy goodness that the season brings. The time is right and ripe for pinning it in the best kind of way.

And, it leaves very little time to cook.

This is convenient because summer is also the only season when nature’s bounty gives us nourishment that we don’t *really* have to cook that much. It’s the only season when salads are strongly suggested in Ayurvedic medicine for several reasons; first, it’s the only season of the year when leafy green vegetables are tender enough to enjoy them without cooking. (That’s right, those *winter kale salads* aren’t a thing, but these tender leafy greens made with perky spring sprouts certainly are!) Secondly, summer is the only season of the year when our digestive systems benefit from the energetically cooling effect of raw vegetables and greens, and lastly, it’s one of the only times all year when we have the digestive fire to process them properly. See how that all fits together? Nature is so effing cool, amiright?

When I don’t have the energy or inspiration or time to cook, but I do have a substantial hunk of leftover bread and a few beautiful vegetables on hand, this is what I make. It’s hearty, and satisfying, with punches of crunch, and cream, and all the textures and flavors that our bodies crave because they LITERALLY need them.

We call it lovingly “Crouton Salad,” because the croutons are the best part, and because they make a salad that really eats like a meal, and not like bird food.

How to build an Ayurvedic salad

The first thing to know about building an Ayurvedic salad over any other salad is that we’re always trying to do good things for the digestive system. ALWAYS. This is the reason that there aren’t any seasonal fruits in the salad, and why there isn’t any cheese or beans in addition to the chicken to boost the protein content. Eating fruit with other foods (even vegetables but especially proteins) is one of the only cardinal rules of Ayurvedic medicine. And combining proteins is tricky for digestion too. This has a lot to do with complicating the flavor profile of the salad (which changes the pH of the stomach and the digestive process,) and so even though there are so many wellness-influencer big salads out there, there are a lot of them that are not thinking about your actual wellness at all.

Ok, I digress – so how to build an Ayurvedic salad? To start building, we would be wise to acknowledge that most salads are the exact opposite of what Ayurveda recommends for a balanced, mindfully coordinated meal. Ayurveda suggests that sweet foods (like grains, proteins, dairy products, fruits, and eggs) dominate our diets because these are the most nourishing foods we have. Astringent, bitter, and sour foods – like those that we find in a big bowl of vegetables – are meant to just be the gentle accompaniments to sweet foods. They are NOT meant to be the center of attention and they absolutely are not recommended to be the cornerstones of a diet. And so, if we’re going to eat an entire plate of astringent or bitter foods, we need to really ground the dish and sweeten the deal.

SO – what goes in an Ayurvedic salad? Absolutely we want to have vegetables that are in season right now where we live – that’s a non-negotiable. And then, we’re wise to add sweet foods like grains and proteins, to land and balance the meal. In this case, roasted chicken and crunchy, savory za’atar croutons in great abundance. In another scenario, beans or eggs or cheese, and noodles, or rice would be a great choice but in this blueprint for a great salad, these are my winning tickets.

The low-down on making it happen

Remember how I talked about not having any time to cook? It’s true. I don’t. And you won’t have time to make this salad if you pick up the recipe in the morning and you decide to make it tonight for dinner – I promise. But, if you spend a few minutes sometime during your week turning the nubbins of leftover bread that you’ve saved up in the freezer into croutons, perhaps after your work for the day is done, your child is sleeping and it’s no longer blazing hot outside and you’re watching T.V. or reading a book, you’ll have croutons at the ready so that this meal can come together in mere moments for you.

That’s exactly how we do it around here. Whenever the bag of bread nubbins in the freezer is full, I pull it out, thaw the bread and cut it into chunks. I toss it with the goodness (outlined below!) and pop it in the oven. This week, the croutons made themselves while I gave Leo a bath, fed him, and put him to bed. A few weeks ago, it happened when I was working late at night. Sometimes it happens on a Sunday. Or whenever the oven is on for other things. Then I toss the croutons into a big jar on my pantry shelves. I use the big chunks for crouton salad, and when there’s not many left I smash them into crunchy breadcrumbs with the end of a rolling pin and sprinkle them over pasta, work them into burgers, and sprinkle them wherever breadcrumbs belong.

As for the other components of this salad, there are no rules (and no set recipe) for crouton salad…besides the croutons. The recipe below is the most recent iteration, but there have been and will be others I assure you. Sometimes we make it with grilled squash, other times I’ve made it with roasted pumpkin or beets. Look into your fridge and turn whatever you have on hand – whatever’s in season – into your Big Fat Crouton Salad. It’s the best dinner or lunch hack ever.