Anti-Pasto Consortium

[ilex_cassine]

For Xmas I made the Mr. an anti-pasto salad based on his description of the "perfect" anti-pasto. What I put in the antipasto: *mixed greens (mostly spinach, but with raddicio and some other fun types) *two types of olives (one type was stuffed with garlic- mmm...) *salad peppers *tomato *croutons *walnuts *veggie pepperonis (suprisingly okay) *Goat Gouda (oh my, so good. a new favorite cheese. a gouda with attitude.) *basalmic vinegrette (very easy to make, turned out a-okay on the first go) *artichoke hearts *parsley This isn't something we'll be making all the time, the ingredients are a bit pricey, but for xmas it was a lovely dinner. Home made croutons are wonderful. And easy : dice up old bread, toss bread till saturated in olive oil w/garlic powder, dried herbs and a pinch of salt, bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Dinner was topped off with a small slice of left over lasagna for dessert. Yum.