Ham and Cheese Salad With Rye Bread Croutons

Submitted by LifeIsGood

"This is a fun twist of the sandwich classic, by Grace Parisi for Food and Wine Magazine. She makes this ham salad mixed with crunchy rye bread croutons and little bits of Gruyere cheese. Then she tosses it in a mustardy dressing with celery and chives. Grace likes to wrap the salad in Bibb lettuce leaves for an inside-out sandwich. You may choose to serve any way you'd like. Note: you can prepare the rye croutons in advance."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 4 slices of seeded rye bread, cut into 1 by 1/2 inch cubes
• 1⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 3 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (I use Hellmans)
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup celery, chopped (3 ribs)
• 1 lb smoked ham, thickly sliced, then cut into 1 by 1/2 inch cubes
• 6 ounces gruyere cheese, coarsely shredded (2 Cups)
• 1⁄4 cup chives, snipped

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the rye bread cubes with 2 Tablespoons of the canola oil. Bake for about 15 minutes, stirring once, until the bread is lightly toasted. Let cool.
3. In a bowl, whisk the mustard with the mayo and vinegar. Gradually whisk the remaining 3 Tablespoons of canola oil and season with pepper to taste. Add the chopped celery, ham, Gruyere, snipped chives and the rye bread croutons. Toss well and serve immediately.
4. Note: the rye bread croutons can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container for up to 1 day.

Reviews

[Debbwl]

Gruyere and smoked ham yum, toss with homemade rye croutons a good mustard and chives double yum, and wrapped in bib lettuce leaves you have a lunch to please young and old alike. I made this as written but next time might just scale back on the celery as a matter of my personal taste as DH thought the amount of celery was perfect. This is a great recipe thanks LG for posting it.

 

[ChelseaW]

So I totally misread the name of this salad when I tagged it for ZWT 7. I thought it was a ham and cheese salad served on rye bread, not a bread salad! : ) I ended up making it that way because I had bought rye crackers to serve it on and didn't have bread to make croutons with. The flavors combined were delicious and it made a great lunch spread. I didn't want to do stars since I substantially changed the recipe, but I'd still recommend it!