Writin' Rations™

It's an oldie but a goodie.

Sesame Salad

A bowl (big enough for a large single serving of salad — this will be your dinner when you're under a writing or editing deadline, so make it generous), filled about two-thirds full of salad greens that you have washed and torn with gusto or desperation (depending on how close the deadline is) into bite-sized pieces. (I am lucky enough to have an abundance at the moment of organic bok choy and lettuce from some friends with a large garden plot.)

One carrot, grated straight into the bowl, because that means one fewer cutting board or plate you have to wash.

One packet of ramen noodles, pounded judiciously on the counter with your fist until the noodles are more or less crumbled. Again, pound with gusto or desperation, but not too hard, lest the packet split and you end up with ramen shards underfoot for weeks. Not fun. Ask me how I know. No matter how many times you sweep, there are always more, lurking, lurking. Oh, and make sure you REMOVE the flavor packet and set it aside for another day; it's a cheap thing to empty into a pot of rice while it's cooking. Not very healthful, but cheap, and easy, and relatively tasty, which qualifies it for Writin' Rations — but I digress. Anyway, put the crumbled ramen noodles in the bowl with the greens and carrots.

The Dressing
It's not sesame salad without the dressing. So this part is mandatory.

In a small saucepan, combine a quarter cup (or so) of soy sauce, a tablespoon (or so, maybe less) of sesame oil, a teaspoon (or so) of grated ginger, and a generous two (or three!) tablespoons of honey or brown sugar. Oh — I almost forgot — a teaspoon of rice vinegar (frankly, probably just about any vinegar would do; you're not adding that much of it, after all). Heat gently until it's all combined, and let it cool for a few minutes (lest it wilt the greens overmuch). (Note: if you wanted, you could add crushed garlic, but I had a lot of garlic last night in my dinner and didn't feel like a repeat tonight.)

The Conglomerative Act
Once the dressing is cool enough, pour it over the stuff in the bowl. Mix gently. Eat while doing something either very geeky or very bohemian or both. (My choice tonight is listening to café music from Radio France Internationale over the Internet and pretending I'm back in Paris; ah, Paris....) The reason you're not eating this while writing or editing is that it took such a short time to make, you can afford a few minutes' break to eat it.