So tonight I broke a cardinal rule of “healthy eating”…
I had microwave ramen.
We all know the scary high sodium and crazy amounts of generally not-so-good stuff, but I’m sure I don’t speak alone when I say some nights are just ramen nights. I didn’t get home until late, I was hungry as a horse, and the 99-cent six-pack of ramen at Walgreens seduced me like no other. So, much as I hate to admit it, tonight was definitely a ramen night for me.
However, I was not about to subject myself to that freaky little “shrimp flavor” packet that comes with those quick-cook noodles. Instead I raided my fridge and found a half-used leek, some wilting kale, a bunch of old pre-shredded carrots, and an egg. I sliced the sad little veggies up, threw ‘em in a bowl with water and the noodles, and put my microwave to work. The whole affair took no longer than ten minutes and now I’m flying high, eating noodles and feeling pseudo-healthy about it!
This isn’t a real recipe, but what the hell, I’m going to pretend like it is:
Pseudo-Healthy Ramen
Ingredients:
-packet of ramen (sans seasoning)
- handful of sliced leek
-handful of sliced carrot
-handful of sliced kale
-low sodium soy sauce (or high sodium, whatever you have and like)
-cayenne pepper (optional, as are all of the ingredients, really)
-1 egg
Make it Happen:
1. Crack noodles in package, then place in bowl and cover with water.
2. Slice all veggies (and any others that are hogging fridge space), and toss in bowl. Mix into water as best you can.
3. Stick it all in the microwave for three minutes or until the noodles get soft.
4. Open microwave and season soup to taste with soy sauce and cayenne pepper. If these aren’t your favorite flavors add whatever sounds delish.
5. Crack your egg into the soup and swish it around.
6. Continue heating until egg is cooked through and soup is sufficiently hot. Then give it another sixty seconds for good measure so you can’t say I gave you salmonella poisoning!
And there she is, a quick and dirty ramen recipe that takes the health factor up a smidgen. It wont taste like your favorite restaurant’s soup, but it’ll definitely taste better than plain ramen with “shrimp flavor.” And you wont get the MSG shakes! Everybody wins!
The Drunk Squash