Time is money, as the saying goes, but the problem is, what do you do when there isn't enough of either? Is it better to go for the prepared food that costs more or the raw ingredients that require more time to prepare? Cathy Erway, of Not Eating Out in New York, says that she almost always prefers to buy raw ingredients that "can be made ahead easily and will be much better tasting and free of the preservatives in canned versions that are so often found in salad bars." 

By Sarah Spigelman Richter