Ramen … Not Just For College Kids Anymore!

Okay, I know we’ve all been there … late nights in college, or let’s be serious, being broke in college. Hell, we’ve all be there even after college …. living in DC cities that cost too much and pay too little. Sometimes you just have to stock up on ramen … regardless of its sodium content.

Have you ever actually looked at the sodium content in a package of ramen? No? Don’t worry, I looked for you. Here it goes … wait for it … a package of ramen has 830mg of sodium … EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY MILIGRAMS!!! That’s crazy. Now, in ramen’s defense, the package is two servings, but get real, when did you ever eat half a package of ramen?

So I’ve realize two things: 1) It is exceptionally hard to find a vegetarian packaged ramen, and 2) I could totally make ramen myself.

What You Need
2 Tablespoons EVOO
1 Tablespoon crushed garlic
1 Onion, red or yellow — just cook with what you have!
2-3 Carrots
2-3 Celery stalks
1 Zucchini
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
1 Lime
4 Cups vegetable broth
1 Package ramen, broken into quarters (discard salt seasoning packet)
1-2 Tablespoons cilantro
Siracha to taste

And here is what it all looks like!

First, heat EVOO in large soup pot.  Add garlic and brown slightly.  To the pot, add diced onions and sweat until translucent.  For some reason, I actually decided to finally slice the onion, but dicing would work just as well.

Once onions are translucent, add chopped carrots, celery, and zucchini.  I truly do not think it is necessary to measure any of these ingredients … just cook with what you have!

After 5-6 minutes, the vegetables should start to become tender.  To the vegetables, add one can of tomatoes and vegetable broth. Hopefully you remember my Avogolemono Soup post where I shared a great hack on how to juice a lemon … follow those same steps to add the juice of one lime to the soup pot.  Bring to a boil.

After soup comes to a boil, add ramen and let cook for approximately 3 minutes, stirring continually.

Top your bowl of ramen with a healthy dash of Siracha and voila! Easy, spicy, vegetarian, AND low sodium ramen.  To be honest, I added so much Siracha I was sweating, and loved every spoonful.  Be careful … its addicting!

Enjoy!