A soup and a salad, that's what I have when I feel like eating light. But the unapologetic carbo-loader that I am would always find a way to incorporate some bread (or potato) into the meal. Crusty breads are my favourite. But soft herbed bread sticks I am also known to welcome with open arms (er... mouth?). When I feel like being a good girl however, a few croutons in my salad and most probably soup, are enough to satisfy my carbo-hunger.

I have not tracked down the origin of croutons but some say they were probably made to use up stale bread. The traditional way of making croutons is to dice bread and then fry in butter or olive oil. Herbed croutons can be made by rubbing butter or olive oil on the bread, then the herbs. This is done before frying.

What I do however is to cube bread and then brown it in the oven. This 'plain jane' recipe for croutons is best used with soups and salads with strong flavours. For more flavourful croutons, I rub a piece of garlic before I cube the bread then some Dried herbs.

For soft breads to turn into croutons, bake them twice. Take out the bread and cool after the first, then return to the oven and bake on low heat. That should crisp them enough.