Everton, VA

"But is there enough room?" Ian asked, as they devoured the salad rolls. It was their last spring at University, and he worried where they were possibly going to hold the graduation party his and Joy's parents so dearly wanted. She from the arts school, he from business, they both played music and found each other during a kickball game in front of the music building several Octobers ago. It was only a slight wonder among their friends, Joy was their collective vision of beauty, Ian less so. But he had a fabulous air of serenity and command; the girls would say to each other when he couldn't hear that Ian could charm the horns off of the devil himself if he wanted. Each one privately hoped it would be them, while every man not so quietly hoped to be able to charm Joy.

"No..." Joy nervously toyed with the gentle white of the carefully boiled egg on her plate. "It'll have to be your place." She shrugged, "I guess there's no real reason not to." Pleased with the apparent end of the discussion, Joy grabbed several more slices of carrot, dried cranberries, almonds and seared tuna. Delicately she placed each element into the large pliable leaf before folding in a dainty touch of creamy dressing. Staring into nowhere in particular, she chewed and sighed. She had stopped wondering about Ian's now old choice to not eat meat, and instead now tried to take that much more pleasure in the carnivorous treats that money and time permitted. Ian, of course, added that much more cranberry and dressing to the rolls that he consumed like krill towards the belly of a whale.

The sun was setting over the identical student apartments, and the flowers in front of apartment #180 wilted ever so slightly from thirst. In a similar way, with his stomach again full and his beautiful girlfriend by his side, Ian managed to worry about his future. How can you celebrate graduation without a job, he wondered. His parents had always told him to keep his pleasures on the side and study something decent and industrial. 'Even if you're happy, you've got to pay the bills,' they told him. Now he understood their worry. With fewer and fewer jobs available after the economic crash, it didn't seem to help that he understood the economic mechanics of it. After discussing their very last finals schedules with each other, Ian and Joy set about preparing for the worst.

Spring Salad Rolls

1 head rollable bibb lettuce, picked and washed
1 cleaned carrot, cut into 1/8in. by 1/8in. sticks
1/2 c. dried and sweetened cranberries
3-4 medium-hard boiled eggs (softly boiled for 8.5-9.5 minutes)
1/2 lb. fresh tuna loin (really fresh and good quality - do NOT take anything remotely questionable)
2 tbsp. honey
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
Sesame seeds
3 cloves garlic, sliced paper thin
1 lemon
1/2 c. mayonnaise
salt
pepper

Soy-marinated tuna

• This soy-based tuna marinade is great for use in stir fries or marinating any meat, also good for mixing with sesame oil and a tiny bit of rice wine vinegar for an asian-inspired vinagrette.
  
• Mix together the soy sauce, ginger and 1 1/2 cloves of garlic, then toss around the tuna. It only needs about 1-2 hours to marinate sufficiently.
  
• Heat a non-stick pan to medium-high heat, and take your tuna out of the marinade to dry off with paper towels. Sprinkle the tuna all over with sesame seeds, then place into the hot pan. Allow to sear on each side until it appears nearly blackened, repeat until the entire piece is covered with a delicious dark sear. It will be basically completely raw on the inside. You want this, it is delicious. Once you have allowed it to rest for 3 minutes, slice thin.

The rolls

• These rolls are particularly great in the spring when the farmer's markets return, and you can buy some remaining root vegetables and lots of fresh greens
• Mix together the mayo with the remaining 1 1/2 cloves of garlic and juice of one lemon. Season to taste with a good 1/2 tsp of salt and several grinds of somewhat course black pepper. This is a delicious refreshing dressing to be used on any kind of salad.
  
• Cut the eggs into quarters lengthwise, then arrange the ingredients to your diet style and taste preference on a base of two layered salad leaves, then roll and munch.