I'm not in the mood to measure while I'm rushing dinner prep, so I rarely make something from scratch that I can't do by rote.

The trouble is, my "rote" repertoire leans heavily on my Mediterranean training, and if overplayed, my lemon, herb, and garlic go-tos turn to dishes I'd rather run from. That's when I turn to Power Condiments.

What is a power condiment?

A power condiment is a dressing, sauce, marinade, paste, etc that can be made in bulk, stored well for a few weeks, and widely deployed. Ideally for me, it includes flavors I am always happy to eat, but don't often fall back on.

In current rotation: a simple Soy-Garlic-Sesame Sauce.

Use this sauce as written to dress pre-salted cucumbers and radish or slices of avocado. Stir in Dijon mustard to brush on salmon or to drizzle on mustard greens. Warm and thicken with egg yolk for seared chicken or buckwheat noodles. Substitute balsamic for rice vinegar to marinate steak. Add miso to marinate tofu. And mayonnaise for sweet potato fries.

Sesame Soy Garlic Sauce

makes about 1 1/2 cups

1/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup rice wine vinegar
6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar
16 garlic cloves, minced or grated
2 - 3 tablespoons chili paste

Mix together well. Store in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 3 weeks.