Crispy prosciutto & white bean salad with ciabatta croutons

Before I get to this rockin' recipe, I've gotta ask -- who watched The Bachelor finale last night?!  Did your favorite win?  I won't spoil the ending for you, but for my first season of watching the show, I'm pretty happy with the outcome.  Looooove her!  After almost 3 months of investing my Monday evenings into this show, I can honestly say that I won't do it again.  It was entertaining as can be but I feel like I've lost brain cells in the process :)

Now, to this salad.  This is a carry over from last week's dinners-for-one series.  A recap of the previous recipes:

• Proscuitto-wrapped chicken with roasted green beans
• Scrambled eggs with guacamole
• Cheesy chicken and broccoli casserole
• Orange brown sugar chicken

On Friday night, after a grueling session at the gym normal work day, I came home and got to work creating this salad to remember.  To be honest, I've never been to Italy, but this reminded me of something I'd order from a little cafe along the street and enjoy outside, watching the locals go about their daily lives.  With ingredients so fresh they were plucked from adjacent markets and stands just that morning. 

Can you tell that Italy is at the top of places I'd like to visit?  It is for Matt, too, but wouldn't you know that when it's winter here in western Pennsylvania, it's the worst time of year to visit in Italy -- the cold and rainy season.  While we keep searching for a honeymoon destination, I'll have to settle... wait, settle?  well, only when compared to the alternative of Italian travel... for this delicious dinner that I made last week.

What's in that gorgeous rainbow of an entree?  Romaine lettuce, chopped green onions for kick, smooth Northern white beans, homemade croutons from a fresh ciabatta roll, and crispy salty proscuitto in a classic red wine vinaigrette.  I used one baking sheet for the bread and proscuitto, one bowl to make the dressing, and one plate and fork to devour it.  Pretty simple for something so gourmet, right?  My thoughts exactly :)

One Year Ago: One bowl chocolate cupcakes


Romaine Salad with Crispy Proscuitto and White Beans
(adapted from Everyday Food)
-serves 1

A few notes: If you can't find ciabatta in the bakery section of your grocery store, truly any roll will do.  And, next time I may try to dress the salad with a basic balsamic vinaigrette... not that the red wine wasn't good, but I just love the flavor of the sweet balsamic vinegar, but dress it however you like.

1 small ciabatta roll, cut or torn into 1-inch cubes
3 teaspoons olive oil
Salt
Ground black pepper
3 slices proscuitto
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
1 romaine heart, chopped
1/2 cup white beans, rinsed and drained
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange bread pieces on one side of a rimmed baking sheet; toss with 1 teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay prosciutto on other side of sheet. Bake until both are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheet. Crumble prosciutto.

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar and 2 teaspoons oil; season with salt and pepper. Add romaine, croutons, prosciutto, beans, and scallion and toss to combine.