Roland ramen, mushroom flavor

4

Well, it’s ramen. Ghetto ramen. But it excels in its role as a super-cheap, excessive-sodium, fast comfort food. Mushroom flavor is sometimes a tough find, so really, this stuff is ten-cent gold.

Dorothy Lynch fat-free (French) dressing

4

When it comes to French dressing, this is the best brand there is. It’s a lighter color, sweeter, and more peppery than cheap-salad-bar French dressing varieties. The original Dorothy Lynch is the best, but the fat-free version is almost as good. No calorie guilt about dumping this stuff on! It’s great on salad (duh), and is complemented well by sunflower seeds, black olives, and cucumbers.

Sapporo Ichiban ramen, chow mein flavor

5

This is top-of-the-line ramen, and let me tell you, it’s well worth the asking price of 75 cents a packet. The sauce is absolutely delicious, and it even comes with a tiny pouch of seaweed to sprinkle on top. Yum! This is the best ramen I’ve ever had. Just be sure to brush your teeth afterwards to get rid of those tenacious seaweed flakes. I’ve found this ramen in mainstream grocery stores as well as in Asian grocery stores.

Dorothy Lynch (French) salad dressing

5

When it comes to French dressing, this is the best brand there is. It’s a lighter color, sweeter, and more peppery than cheap-salad-bar French dressing varieties. Great on salad (duh), and is complemented well by sunflower seeds, black olives, and cucumbers.

Top Ramen oriental flavor ramen

3

Well, it’s ramen. The oriental flavor doesn’t impress me much, but sometimes I’m in the mood for it. I usually save it for eating the noodles uncooked and plain as a snack, or I use the crunchy noodles and seasoning packet as part of a salad or casserole. This ramen of course excels in its role as a super-cheap, excessive-sodium, fast comfort food, and it’s sold virtually everywhere.

Paula's no-oil lemon and dill salad dressing

3

This stuff has a nice, surprisingly garlicky, flavor. The fat-free recipe is also a great selling point. It didn’t win me over, though. I kept a bottle of this in my fridge for months and couldn’t bring myself to finish it. Although it tasted okay, it didn’t really seem to complement my salad condiments well. It worked better with potatoes but still wasn’t too exciting.