My New Favorite Lunch
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 7:00AM I don't know exactly when this happened, but somewhere in my life I fell in love with noodles. I also fell in love with veggies and garlic. I do not love chicken, but paired with steamed veggies, garlic, and noodles? Success! I eat my made-up noodle dish about once every two weeks. Sometimes even once per week.
I am also uber particular about the way I eat my noodles. I must use chopsticks. A fork annoys me. CHOPSTICKS. Recently, I decided that I had to eat them in special noodle bowls, because clearly that's the only way to satisfy my chompers.
Enter my new Crate and Barrel noodle bowls... minus the noodles:
$14 well-spent. And I plan to give them a place of honor in my dishware cabinet, unencumbered by lesser ceramics.
Now, I know I have readers who are noodle experts. I am not one of those experts, and you are about to be horrified by my noodle methods. I use Ramen noodles. Not REAL Ramen, that fake 10-cent stuff. Hey, it was here, I was here, we made out. At least I know that I'm slumming it. And anyway, it actually ends up tasting pretty good for a homemade quickie recipe.
Penny's Last Minute Noodles
*Last minute because I usually make these with little to no forethought. :D
1) First of all, gather whatever yummy produce you have on hand. For the picture you see above, that was snow peas, broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms. Chop them up into big chunks. if you have a "hearty" veggie in the mix, separate it out since they might have to steam a touch longer than the others.
2) Create a veggie sauna by heating water in a pot and then placing your colander over the steam, with the pot lid at the ready. Place your hearty veggies in the colander so that they can get to steamin'. After a few minutes, put the rest of your veggies in, along with some minced garlic, onion powder, and extra garlic powder for flavor. I also threw in a handful of pre-cooked rotisserie chicken.
3) While the veggies are having their spa day in the colander, boil chicken broth. I did use 10-cent Ramen noodles, but I did NOT use the seasoning packet, since all I can think about are the chemicals attacking my body. Just use low-sodium chicken or veggie broth. It's delicious. Once the broth is a-boiling, put in the noodles for their requisite 3 minutes.
Once the noodles are cooked and your veggies/chicken are steamed, just throw it all together in your noodle bowls, along with a ladle or two of broth! Then, I get crazy with a little siracha and low-sodium soy sauce. THEN, I die of happiness. And heartburn. Because siracha does that to me - I love it too much to care though.
Recipes
Reader Comments (2)
Oh that sounds delicious! I love noodles also but I also rock the cheap Ramen and don't feel guilty. But I've never Ramen this way--must try. And I also need to state that I'm jealous you know how to use chopsticks, never been able to master that. Adorable bowls!
Yum! Sounds delish! Fellow noodles and garlic fan here. While we're on the subject of being embarrassed about cheap ramen noodles, one of my ultimate comfort snacks is packaged ramen, cooked and drained, mixed with oyster sauce and butter. Sounds soooo gross. Tastes sooooooooo good. :)