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Dose of Prose

I live a busy lifestyle and although I would love to meal prep and cook every single meal, that’s realistically not the case. When I discovered Postmates and Uber Eats, they quickly became my new best friends, especially when I would come home from a long day to a bare fridge. The fact of the matter is, sometimes, I just do not have time to cook, other times, let’s be honest, I just don’t feel like it. However, because of my sensitive stomach, skin and intolerances to many foods, I have to watch what I eat. As convenient as eating out was, it also started to add up, so I knew that something had to change. I needed to find quick, easy and healthy recipes that fit my schedule, budget and eating habits. So, I began to be more intentional with my weekly grocery shopping trips to Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I began to purchase snacks and produce that created simple meals that would sustain me throughout the week without breaking the bank. I will create a separate blog post of my grocery store list (if you would be interested in this type of content, let me know), but today I just want to focus on a specific, classic recipe that we all know and love: ramen.

Yes, you read it right. I’m switching up the blog posts this week from fashion to food…so to all my fellow foodies out there, this is for you. After ordering ramen one too many times, I had an epiphany and realized that I could replicate a healthier version of it myself, at a fraction of the price. It all started when I walked into the store and saw this instant ramen that was made from rice. I was curious to see how it tasted and I am not exaggerating when I say that the ramen exceeded my expectations and left a positive first impression. After doing some more research, I became more attracted to the brand because of what they stand for. Lotus Foods creates rice that is organic, heirloom, fair trade and grown on farms that respects women, water soil and communities. Basically, this ramen tastes great, is good for you and makes a social impact? Sounds like a win to me! After a bit of trial and error, eventually I developed a quick, hearty, healthy and tasty ramen recipe that you can make at home at a reasonable price. You can also customize the recipe to your liking – vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, etc. Overall this recipe is very simple, and I’m sure there are a ton of them out there on the Internet, but I had to share my own personal take on it. I know you’ll enjoy it!

So without further ado, here is my 20 minute hearty and healthy ramen recipe:

COOK TIME: 20 mins

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 packet ramen noodles (or dumplings…pictured above)

• 1/4 leek

• 1/4 bok choy

• 1/4 mushrooms (I use crimini mushrooms, but any will do)

• 1-2 eggs

• 2½ cups of broth (vegetable or chicken)

• seasoning salt

• cayenne pepper

• spike seasoning (any all purpose seasoning works)

• teriyaki and/or soy sauce

PRICE:

Cost to make: $20-25 vs. Cost to order: $13-25

I wanted to put these prices in here to give you some perspective. Although it can be slightly more expensive to make the ramen yourself, the ingredients that you have will last at least a week, meaning you can make 5-7 bowls of ramen before you have to purchase the $20 worth of ingredients again. However, if you were just ordering ramen at a restaurant or through a food delivery service, that is a cost you would incur every time you purchase, meaning you would be paying that $20 every time you eat it. Imagine eating ramen for lunch every day. You could pay once for the ingredients, then make it everyday or you could go and buy ramen every day, which is not cheap. What I’m trying to get at is, it’s more economically beneficial to make the ramen yourself. You know I’m a business/finance person…so I had to throw in a mini cost-benefit analysis, it wouldn’t be a true Style Prose blog post without one, would it? haha. Okay, now on to the recipe….

STEPS:

1. Get two pots, fill one with water and the other with broth. Set the heat for both pots to medium – high heat. The pot with water is for your eggs, the one with broth is for your noodles and veggies.

2. Add eggs to the pot of water and bring to a boil. While waiting for the eggs to boil, chop up your veggies (mushrooms, bok choy, leeks, etc.) and add them to the broth. If you want to add meat to your ramen, now would be a good time to add that to the broth, if you desire.

3. Once the eggs are boiled to your liking (I prefer soft-boiled eggs), put them to the side. When you broth and veggies start to boil, add your noodles. The noodles I use are completely vegan and only take 4 minutes to cook. While the noodles and veggies are cooking together, add seasoning to your desire.

4. When the noodles and veggies look ready, add the boiled eggs, give it a stir and let everything sit in the pot for 2-3 minutes so that the flavors can fuse together.

Additional notes:

This recipe makes 1 bowl of ramen. I do not recommend making this recipe in bulk aka meal prepping this type of meal. It tastes best when made fresh!

For a more intense flavor, stir fry your vegetables in a separate pan and then add to the broth.

The ramen I use can be bought individually or in bulk. The individual ramen packages include seasoning packets. If you use the seasoning packets, do not add the seasonings I listed above in the ingredients – it will make the dish too salty!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Tastes better than it looks, I promise, haha. If you decide to give it a try, let me know how it turns out! Bon appétit.

-Kaamilah