(Version shown is vegan and uses Earth Balance + nutritional yeast!)

Sometimes, you don’t realize until the last minute that your entree would be much improved with a side of garlic bread. In my case, my tomato soup had just finished cooking and my taste buds were demanding dinner. And all of a sudden, I realized: that loaf of bread I bought to dip in the soup would be much better in the form of garlic bread.

I was not in the mood to cut up a bunch of garlic or fresh herbs, however, so I decided to take a bit of a cheater’s route. I turned on my oven, dug through my spice cabinet, and had garlic bread within 10 minutes.

And my tastebuds were happy. In fact, I was shocked at how much it tasted like fresh, restaurant-style garlic bread.

(Photo is pre-nutritional yeast/cheese)

Ingredients:

– Slice(s) of Italian bread

– Butter or Vegan margarine

– Garlic powder

– Salt

– Dried basil (optional)

– Nutritional Yeast or Cheese (Optional, if you want cheesy garlic bread)

Directions:

1. If using the oven, preheat it to 350 degrees. If you want even quicker garlic bread, you can use a toaster/toaster oven (I have neither in my apartment, hence my use of the oven!)

2. If using oven, spread butter/margarine on slices. Set the bread on a sheet of tinfoil, and fold the edges up to loosely cover it. Bake for 5 minutes, open up the tinfoil (so it becomes more of a baking sheet), and bake for 5 more minutes, or until crispy.

If using toaster, cook it as long as you prefer, and then spread butter/margarine on it.

3. Sprinkle garlic powder and a pinch of salt evenly across the bread to taste. I just eyed it, but 1/4 tsp of garlic is probably a good amount per slice.

4. Add your basil and/or cheese.

And voila, you have near-instant garlic bread to accompany your meal!

And here’s my completed lunch:

Enjoy,

Michelle