Blake’s Ramen a la Leftover Vegetables

As much as we’d like to, it’s just not practical to cook a full-on recipe every night of the week. There are a couple nights a week where we have not planned a darn thing and open our fridge and pantry at 5:30pm hoping something will have magically appeared that wasn’t there an hour ago. This is what we whip up on some of those nights. We know, ramen noodle packets aren’t exactly on the list of healthy meals. However, the great thing about it is that you use up a lot of the extra vegetables that you didn’t need in their entirety when you shopped for specific recipes earlier in the week, so you really are getting some nutrients here. The most common things that usually end up in our “fancy ramen” are spinach, carrots, onions, broccoli… really any green or root vegetable works. This meatless meal ends up tasting really great, and hey, it’s better than cereal or spending $70 on takeout.

Have your kids help you scour the fridge for things to add to your ramen and add handfuls of spinach and such to the pot. As you prepare and enjoy this meal with your family, teach them about some of the health benefits of some of the ingredients:

• Spinach has powerful antioxidants, which help you stay healthy all-around.
• Carrots are one of the best things to eat to prevent heart disease.
• Broccoli is great for getting rid of any toxins in your body.

A few facts about Japan and it’s people (we totally get that packaged ramen isn’t the best representation of Japanese cuisine. But still, let’s learn a few things):

• Most Japanese children are expected to score very highly on tests, even as early as preschool, because schools are so competitive.
• A Japanese person eats about 120-150 pounds of seafood per year (Americans eat more like 15 pounds).
• Homes in Japan are pretty small, usually less than 1,000 square feet.

Blake’s Ramen a la Leftover Vegetables

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Active time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Author: Food Network Kitchen

Difficulty: easy

Est. Cost: $3

Serves: 1 servings

Ingredients

• Spare veggies (Spinach, carrots, red or green bell peppers, and onions all work great, but choose anything you want.)
• Ramen noodle packet

Instructions

1. Prepare ramen as directed on package.
2. While water is boiling, bring skillet to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
3. Add the veggies to skillet. Start with the onion (and red pepper flakes if you want heat) or whatever veggie is hardest because they will take the longest to soften. Cook each for a few minutes and then add the softer veggies as you go along. Add spinach last because it cooks in about a minute.
4. Add veggies to your individual bowl.
5. Add the ramen to your bowl.
6. Top with Sriracha for extra heat.

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