Seasonal Salad with Baby Swiss
and Blue Cheese, Ham and Bagel Croutons

Crispy, butter-sautéed onion bagel croutons garnish a salad of shaved ham heaped in the middle of a bed of mixed baby greens or romaine lettuce hearts, surrounded by thinly sliced red onion, tomatoes, slices of baby Swiss cheese and crumbles of blue cheese simply dressed with balsamic vinegar.

Recipe Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
2 onion bagels, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Pinch of salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup (4 ounces) mixed baby salad greens or romaine lettuce hearts, washed and spun dry
8 ounces shaved deli ham
8 ounces thinly sliced Wisconsin Baby Swiss cheese
3 large ripe tomatoes, cored and sliced thin
1 small red onion, peeled and sliced very thin
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Wisconsin Blue cheese
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Additional fresh ground black pepper

Cooking Directions:

1. Melt butter in a sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the bagel cubes and season with the salt and pepper. Toss in pan every 2 minutes until croutons are toasted on all sides. Remove from pan.
2. For the salad, lay salad greens over entire surface of a serving plate. Heap shaved ham into middle of plate and arrange Swiss cheese and tomato slices alternately around ham in a circle.
3. Arrange sliced onions around and over tomatoes and cheese slices and sprinkle with blue cheese. Dress with balsamic vinegar. Top with croutons and season with salt and pepper.

Makes 6 servings.

Recipe and photograph courtesy of Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.