When I was asked to participate in Erin's Virtual Baby Shower, I immediately thought to myself, hecks yes. I think Erin is such a super fantastic person, thoughtful, and caring. Her blog, Naturally Ella, has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember. Her recipes are vegetarian, healthy, and very approachable, and I often turn to her site for inspiration. Her simple and honest approach to cooking is something to be admired. A few fellow bloggers and myself, came up with a list of extra quick vegetarian meals to celebrate the soon-to-be arrival of Erin's baby. It's such an appropriate theme for Erin's party, and even better, she will have a list of vegetarian meals that she'll be able to easily recreate once the baby is here.
When I was trying to come up with a recipe, I thought to myself, what is something that is quick and easy to make, vegetarian, healthy, nutritious, and comforting. I immediately thought of soup. When I'm looking for something quick to make for dinner, when I've been a little sleep deprived or maybe not feeling my best, I always turn to ramen noodles. Not the fancy dish that I've made today, but ramen noodles, straight from the package. I thought, wouldn't it be kinda hilarious if I posted a recipe for instant ramen - boil the water, add the noodles and the seasoning package. Luckily the ambitious side of me won, and I decided to make a miso ramen noodle soup from scratch.
Yesterday, I took a trip to the Asian grocery store, which is always a two-hour event - deciding on which fresh tofu to buy, choosing the best noodle stand to grab lunch, gawking at all the exotic fruit. I left the store with some fresh ramen, fresh tofu, and a tub of miso, green onions, and some baby bok choy. I was pretty excited at the prospect of miso ramen with tofu. With all of my ingredients, including some oil, sweet chili sauce, and vegetable broth, I pulled together a pretty delicious soup in 20 minutes, which probably could have taken 10 or 15 minutes, if I hadn't of spent so much time trying to strategically place the items in the bowl for the perfect photo. This ramen soup is a lot better than your run of the mill deep fried Sapporo Ichiban. I highly recommend taking the extra time to make it from scratch, even though those instant ramen packs seem so appealing.
If you'd like to take a look at what some of the other bloggers made for the virtual baby shower, I have shared the recipes and links below.
Quick and Easy Vegetarian Recipes
The Fauxmartha |
A Couple Cooks |
Breakfast Parfait with Roasted Strawberries
Edible Perspective |
Avocado Pesto Chickpea Salad Sandwiches
Eat This Poem |
Penne with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula
Cookie and Kate |
FoodieCrush |
Beet, Avocado and Fried Goat Cheese Salad
The Bojon Gourmet |
Tempeh BLTs with Avocado + Chipotle Mayonnaise
Girl Versus Dough |
Spiced Lentils with Poached Eggs
Dolly and Oatmeal |
Chickpea Bean Bowl with Toasted Bread Crumbs and Dill Tahini
Food Loves Writing |
With Food + Love |
Creamy Polenta with Crispy Beets
London Bakes |
Ricotta Gnocchi with Wild Garlic and Pistachio Pesto
This Homemade Life |
My Name is Yeh |
Brooklyn Supper |
CHILI GLAZED TOFU WITH MISO RAMEN
serves 2
2 large eggs
7 cups water
4 cups vegetable broth
2 servings ramen noodles
2 small bok choy
7 - 8 oz firm tofu, sliced
1 tbsp oil
3 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 - 4 tbsp miso paste
2 green onions, sliced
Place the eggs in a large pot with 7 cups of water. Bring to a rolling boil. Once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and cover. Let the eggs sit in the water for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs, crack the shells, and set to the side. Place the pot of water back on the stove and heat to boil.
In a medium saucepan, heat the vegetable broth on low.
In a frying pan, heat the oil on medium. Add the slices of tofu and fry on each side until brown. Brush both sides of the tofu with sweet chili sauce.
Once the large pot of water has boiled, add the ramen and bok choy for 2 minutes. Drain.
Remove the broth from the stove and stir in the miso paste, 2 - 4 tbsp, as per taste. Pour the broth into the bowls. Add the ramen noodles and the bok choy. Arrange the tofu, boiled egg sliced in half, and the sliced green onions on top. Serve warm.
