It’s still hot in LA, which always makes me long for the season changes. Yes, I know I’m romanticizing fall weather and many of you are angrily wearing rain boots and cursing. But here in LA it’s still hot enough to have a summer salad for dinner and go to bed naked.

I’m a fan of the traditional Cobb Salad, but not a fan of the hard-boiled egg element, so I’ve picked my favorite Cobb Salad ingredients (and I encourage you to do the same) and added some extra crunch via the homemade gluten-free croutons you can see hanging out at the bottom of the bowl up there. Jeez, I miss having croutons on a salad. Do you? Well, you don’t have to any longer if you whip up some super easy gluten-free goodness in your own dang home. Bring them to your favorite salad purveyor and toss them on! I don’t care! The restaurant might, but maybe they should just leave you alone with your croutons.

Everyone in my family loves it when I make homemade croutons because they’re fresh, crunchy and satisfying. Using Schär’s* new 10 Grains & Seeds Bread, it’s super easy to make tasty and with a nutritional punch from the 10 grains and seeds that are sourced from certified gluten free farms: rice flour, quinoa seeds, chia seeds, amaranth four, quinoa flour, buckwheat flour, millet flour, flax seeds and sunflower seeds. Add this goodness to a delicious sourdough recipe, toss in some agave and honey and you’ve got a dang good slice of bread that Schär also gives the old ELISA R5 test to make sure it’s celiac safe.  (Also no GMOs or preservatives, just to make it that much more awesome.)

To make this big bowl of yum I fried up some bacon, chopped up some tomatoes and a big ol’ avocado, threw on some little nuggets of goat cheese on top of some chopped Romaine and we called it a day. A very delicious, gluten-free day. Do it!

Gluten-Free Cobb Salad

1 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

1/4 cup freshly cooked corn

1 avocado, diced

4 slices bacon, diced and cooked

1/2 cup gluten-free croutons

Gluten-Free Croutons:

8 slices Schar GF 10 Grains & Seeds Bread

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

Combine olive oil, garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Mix bread crumbs covering well. Allow the bread to sit for up to 30 minutes or longer. You want them really good and soaked through.

Bake on 425 for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

Allow your croutons to cool off as you assemble your salad.

I have ranch on the side as a dip, because otherwise my little one would drown the whole dang salad in it. I know this because I, as a child, would have done the same but probably with queso, and he’s inherited my indulgent side.

*Schär also gave me a load of delicious bread and some cash money to cook and write about all of this.