For homemade croutons: Preheat oven to 375°F. Dice bread into ¾ inch cubes. Add cubed bread to a bowl with oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well (using your hands works best to really work it into every piece) and spread on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake on the center rack for 12-16 minutes or until golden and crisp. Times will vary slightly based on type and staleness of bread.
While the croutons bake make dressing and prep salad ingredients.
To make the dressing, combine ingredients in a small bowl, whisk, and set aside.
Wash and dry kale and remove leaves from stem. Finely chop leaves and add to a large bowl.
Drizzle a teeny bit of dressing (around 1/2 tsp) onto the kale leaves. Massage dressing into kale until the leaves darken in color and become tender and silky.
Thinly slice red onion. If using cherry, grape, or campari tomatoes, cut into quarters. For roma or regular tomatoes, roughly chop or dice. Thinly slice fresh basil.
For the crispy crushed crouton topping, place about ⅓ of the croutons in a plastic bag or between two paper towels. Use a bottle of olive oil to crush into small panko-sized pieces to sprinkle over the salad just before serving. The result is a little of this delightfully crispy topping in every bite. Love it so!
Top kale with tomatoes, red onion, whole croutons, and basil. Pour over dressing and mix well. Next sprinkle crumbled feta and crushed croutons on top. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Facts below are estimated using an online recipe nutrition calculator. Adjust as needed and enjoy!Recipe yields 4 side salads or 2 larger salads.