There are certain dishes that to me, must be served with a wedge of slightly sweet, moist buttermilk cornbread; gumbo, red beans and rice, hoppin’ john, and any sort of braised greens are dishes that come to mind.   And inevitably, even after their accompanying dishes are gone, there always seems to be leftover cornbread.

A firm believer in the kitchen theory of ‘no food goes to waste!’, I want to share a little secret of mine with you.  Why not cut your leftover cornbread into small cubes, toast in the oven on a baking sheet, and use the leftover cornbread cubes as croutons on your next salad?  Or a nice crunchy topping to a tomato or potato soup?  One of my favorite ways to serve these Crispy Cornbread Croutons is on a salad of peppery arugula with barbeque chicken.  The good thing is, when kept in an air-tight container in your pantry, these delightful cornbread croutons will stay fresh for just about a week and a half.

Tagged: cornbread, croutons, leftovers