Asian Noodle Confessions

I'm sure that you've had people ask you: "Do you eat like this all the time?" You and I both know that the answer is "No". The day after a big dinner, or coming home late from work, or just the need to feed with little or no effort, has driven me to leftovers, pasta-butter-garlic, frozen fried chicken, and, in my most desperate moments, going out to eat. We'll revisit this aversion to dining out another time, but leave it at this for now: we can always do it better, faster, and cheaper at home. I know that we all cherish those personal comfort food secrets, all the more delicious for the slight tang of shame in going commercial, or freeze-dried, or 950mg Sodium factory food portions.

So I'm bringing my lunch to work most days. But on the days after any kind of barbequed steak, chicken, or pork, I just pack a small slab of meat and my favorite Asian noodle mix. The kind you buy a dozen at a time for a dollar, with the mostly-salt spices in a foil packet. My personal favorite is "Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Bowl" At the high end of the market at $2US Lemongrass and Chili is what I normally buy, even though they have other flavors. These are rice noodles, in just the right amount, the spice packet is the most consistent--not too dependent on salt, and not over-flavored.

Two cups of water, their oil, greens and flavor packet, my hunk of meat, sliced thin, five minutes of microwaves, and I'm the envy of the lunchroom. Yes, I could bring my own chopped green onions(scallions), my own spiced oil, so easy to infuse with just any spice you could think of(fresh only), and a salt, pepper dash, but that would be work, and that's what I want to avoid. I put my stuff in last, and nuke the mix for another 30 seconds, and let it sit for the noodles to soak up the broth. Nice and hot, no cash outlay(in an office where $8US is average, not to mention the wait) and no food hangover!

There you have it.