With the summer driving season under way and Serious Eats overlord Ed Levine in Aspen, Colorado, I've been thinking about car food.

What do you pack for a day trip or a long trek cross country? Or do you prefer to stop at local joints along the way? Alternatively: What's the easiest food to eat while driving? (Not that we at Serious Eats condone DWEs, of course.)

My own answer: I typically pack a few sandwiches in a small cooler to be used as back-up rations if all I encounter is crap or if making good time supersedes stopping. I find White Castle (or Krystal Burger, in the South) to be great behind-the-wheel eats. They're so tiny that you can manage them easily -- but you have to drive with the windows down.