I'm a sucker for Southwestern-style cuisine, and Arby's has just the cure.

A flier arrived in the mail last week, and I spotted the "Southwest Mini Egg Rolls" in the center of the advertisement. They looked similar to ones I've loved at a couple area restaurants, so I figured I'd give them a try.

All week, I planned to eat them as part of a sensible dinner that also included a salad and toasted pita bread served with salsa. But Saturday's snow and the drive to pick them up at the fast food chain curbed my desire to get fancy, and I just went with the egg rolls and the pita/salsa combination.

They weren't kidding when they put "mini" in the name. They're two-bite morsels that had enough kick to remind you that "Southwest" is also in the name. I went without the chili-lime ranch dipping sauce, because a sniff signaled it was really just ranch dressing with a little green tint to it.

Because they're deep-fried, I'll not make them a regular component of my meal plan. I also couldn't get past the idea that when I'm at the other places I've tasted these items, they seemed much more sophisticated -- probably because they were brought to me at a table, on a plate, by a server, not handed over a counter in a cardboard sleeve.

-- Laura Kessel