Asparagus Bread Pudding

About two weeks ago the Robber and I went to Whole Foods to buy him some chicken and I came across some asparagus bread pudding in the hot foods section and thought it looked delicious so I bought a little square to try it. The Robber said, "Oh that is a you food" by which he meant "This looks strange but it might turn out to be good." Hmmmmmph. I said. Hmmmmmph. And of course in the end the Robber loved it enough that I thought I should replicate it at home and this is how I did it. I looked at a few recipes online and then just kind of made things up as I went and was fairly pleased with the result, as was the Robber.

Next time I'll increased the liquid by 1/2 cup because this was a little bit dry and I won't precook the vegetables. As the Robber said, "If you make this again, I would be happy."

Ingredients:

1 lbs. bread, cut into 1/2-1" cubes and left overnight to dry out (alternately you can dry them out in the oven at 150F)

2 lbs asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 1" pieces

1 C. sliced green beans

1 C. buttermilk

1/2 C. chicken broth

1 C. heavy whipping cream

6 eggs

2 tsp. salt

6 oz. soft goat cheese

12 oz. feta cheese

Slivered almonds

Directions:

1. Prepare bread as above. I used sourdough hoagie rolls and thought they were quite delicious in the pudding.

2. In the blender, combine buttermilk, broth, cream, eggs, salt, and cheeses. Blend until smooth.

3. Pour egg mixture over bread cubes in large bowl. Allow to soak for minimum of 15 minutes, submerging the cubes entirely in the liquid mixture.

(Here I sauted the green beans and asparagus until slightly tender, but I wouldn't do that again.)

4. Preheat the oven to 375F. When oven is hot, scoop 1/2 of the bread mixture into an ungreased 9 x 13 glass baking pain. Spread 1/2 of vegetables over bread mixture. Repeat with second half of bread mixture and then vegetables. Generously sprinkle slivered almonds over the top of the pudding.

5. Bake at 375F for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to sit 15 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm.