Garlic Soy Ramen Noodles

Do you ever dream about food?  If you don't, that might sound weird to you, but I dream about food sometimes.  Ryan and I were talking to a friend about making noodles from scratch, but it's such a process that it hasn't happened yet.  I was planning to make a stir fry this week with farmer's market veggies, but then I dreamed up this recipe and knew I had to try it.  I've been going to Whole Foods more often recently, but haven't tried ordering from them through Amazon Prime, so I thought I would give it a try.  I looked through all the different Asian noodles they offered and was between ramen and soba noodles.  At the last minute, I picked ramen because it had the texture I had dreamed about and I definitely made the right choice.  I picked freshly made ramen noodles - the kind that's refrigerated and not the cheap dried out noodles and they were absolutely delicious.  Paired with a head of garlic (yup, that's right an entire head), soy sauce and toasted sesame oil, these noodles have the perfect flavor.  Add some blanched veggies and you've got an easy & tasty dish that can be made in one pot.

In my nutrition book I read about how you can drink the broth (water) that you cook your veggies in, which I thought was an interesting concept.  When you blanch veggies, the water you cook them in absorbs some of the flavor and nutrients and can be used to make stock or broth.  For this recipe, I decided to use that concept a little and cook the noodles in the water after cooking the veggies in them.  I'm not sure if the noodles absorbed any of the flavor or nutrients from the veggies, but it made for easy clean up because I just used one pot for the recipe.

Overall, this recipe was quick, easy, and totally tasty.  I 10/10 would recommend trying it and I'll definitely be making more noodles!

Total Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 5-6

Ingredients:

26 oz ramen noodles

1 large crown broccoli, chopped

2 lbs sugar snap peas, halved

3 medium carrots, thinly sliced

3 heads of bok choi, thinly sliced

For the Sauce:

1 head garlic, roughly minced

3/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbs sesame oil

2 tbs sesame seeds (black or white)

Instructions:

1. Heat a large pot of salted water over high heat until boiling.  I used a dutch oven so I could do everything in one pot.  Fill a large bowl with ice water and place near the stove.
2. Once boiling, add the chopped broccoli, snap peas and carrots and cook for 3 minutes.  Add the bok choi and cook for 1 additional minute.
3. Remove the veggies from the pot using a strainer and add to the bowl of ice water.  
4. Return the pot of water to a boil and add your ramen noodles for 2 minutes, stirring constantly so the noodles don't stick.  Strain the noodles and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
5. Add the sesame oil and garlic to the pot over medium heat and saute until browned.  Once browned, turn the heat off and add the soy sauce and sesame seeds.  Stir until combined.
6. Add the noodles to the sauce and stir until noodles are thoroughly coated.  Add the veggies to the pot and stir until combined.  Serve immediately.