We had a lot of lettuce leftover from the hamburgers, so naturally, we used it for a salad. (Is there anything else you can make with lettuce?) I used to make this kind of salad a lot at home because it was easy, cheap and delicious, so I don’t know why I never tried to make it here. It was still easy and delicious, and kind of cheap.

Anyway, the point is, I had to make the croutons for this salad. Everything (such as the balsamic vinegar and parmesan) can be found at Carrefour, but not croutons. And I love croutons — a lot. I’ll pour an entire bag on a salad. Actually, I pour half the bag and reserve the rest for munching. Luckily, I had most of a baguette on hand, so my clever mind instantly decided that it can’t be that hard to make croutons. They’re just over-toasted bread cubes, no?

So I cut my baguette into cubes, tossed them in a bowl with garlic powder and dried sage powder (which I think belonged to one of my old roommates, but I’ve been using ever since I moved in — free stuff!) and a little bit of grated parmesan, then drizzled a little bit of olive oil on them to coat them. I spread them out on my tiny baking sheet and toasted them until they came out like croutons. Tasty! Now I want to experiment with all different kinds of breads and herb spices. Of course, they only make about two different kinds of breads in China, wheat and white. Maybe I can use mantou (steamed rice bread) to make croutons with Chinese characteristics?

Anyway, the salad:

Main ingredients: lettuce, chicken, parmesan, croutons.

Special flavorings: balsamic vinegar, olive oil.

Total cost: about 25 RMB ($3.69). A liter of the cheapest evoo is something like 70 kuai ($10.32), and most of what I see in the supermarket comes from Spain. Balsamic vinegar and parmesan are even more outrageously expensive.