Cold Prep, Vegetarian "Stir Fry" in a Cup
Since writing the piece about making cold prep Ramen Noodles, they have become a staple of my diet. They are quick, easy and cheap and I've been trying out variations on a theme.
I have tried several different brands and flavors of ramen noodles in a cup before finding one I really like. It's mildly spicy but not TOO spicy for my tastes, it's not the most expensive and not the least expensive, it's vegetarian and I really enjoy the flavor and the ease of just adding water, waiting a few minutes and eating.
But I always wish they had more vegetables and a cup of noodles by itself is not enough food to make me feel full, so I have been experimenting with what to pair with my ramen noodles in a cup. I started with cooking baby carrots on the George Foremen grill because carrots are something I happened to have on hand and are found in both Western and Eastern dishes.
I also tried cooking new potatoes that I happened to have on hand. Both additions were fine. Nothing exciting, but it helped fill me up and I was okay with it.
But then I began wondering what else I could do and at some point began wondering if I could do COLD PREP vegetables in my cold prep ramen instead of cooking. Like what if I wanted to take this with me somewhere for lunch and had NO access to any ability to cook? Could I do that?
So I tried snow peas which also get called Chinese peas because they are used a lot in Asian cuisine in the US. And I felt like I could use them raw because when you stir fry veggies, you don't cook them very long at all, so there isn't a huge texture difference between stir fry snow peas and raw snow peas.
I was surprised at how much I liked this. I simply filled a plate with a decent amount of snow peas, broke them in half and put some in my cup of ramen noodles, then added more snow peas when they ran low in the cup. It was a big step up from what I had tried before. I felt like it went better with ramen noodles because it's a traditional Asian vegetable and I didn't have to cook at all, so it was super easy.
So then I bought something that says Mirepoix on the package. It's a package of pre-cut veggies: Onions, carrots and celery.
Mirepoix is a standard base used in a lot of French dishes. According to Wikipedia:
If you are a picky Westerner who has trouble trying new things, this should be surprisingly friendly to your palate: Noodles, familiar Western veggies found in a lot of French cuisine and snow peas, the most "exotic" ingredient on the list.
The snow peas have a bit more protein than the other veggies, though less than some legumes, which helps make it a well-rounded vegetarian meal. They are "the meat" so to speak (if you come from a meat-and-potatoes family -- like I do -- and tend to think meat = protein).
I also saw other potential options for adding pre-cut vegetables to cold prep ramen, such as julienned carrots, pre-cut onions and pre-cut peppers. So if this isn't your thing, you have lots of ways you may be able to experiment with this to find a variation you like.
This is lunchbox-friendly. You could put a ziploc bag of pre-cut veggies, an ice pack and your ramen noodle cup (and a spoon) in a lunchbox and have this with extremely little prep almost anywhere. (If there is no running water, just bring a bottle of water to prep it.)
I've also tried saltine crackers, which don't excite me but are okay. I think those little oyster-shaped crackers would probably be better, I just didn't happen to have any on hand.
If you can't get snow peas, sugar snap peas also work.
I have tried several different brands and flavors of ramen noodles in a cup before finding one I really like. It's mildly spicy but not TOO spicy for my tastes, it's not the most expensive and not the least expensive, it's vegetarian and I really enjoy the flavor and the ease of just adding water, waiting a few minutes and eating.
But I always wish they had more vegetables and a cup of noodles by itself is not enough food to make me feel full, so I have been experimenting with what to pair with my ramen noodles in a cup. I started with cooking baby carrots on the George Foremen grill because carrots are something I happened to have on hand and are found in both Western and Eastern dishes.
I also tried cooking new potatoes that I happened to have on hand. Both additions were fine. Nothing exciting, but it helped fill me up and I was okay with it.
But then I began wondering what else I could do and at some point began wondering if I could do COLD PREP vegetables in my cold prep ramen instead of cooking. Like what if I wanted to take this with me somewhere for lunch and had NO access to any ability to cook? Could I do that?
So I tried snow peas which also get called Chinese peas because they are used a lot in Asian cuisine in the US. And I felt like I could use them raw because when you stir fry veggies, you don't cook them very long at all, so there isn't a huge texture difference between stir fry snow peas and raw snow peas.
I was surprised at how much I liked this. I simply filled a plate with a decent amount of snow peas, broke them in half and put some in my cup of ramen noodles, then added more snow peas when they ran low in the cup. It was a big step up from what I had tried before. I felt like it went better with ramen noodles because it's a traditional Asian vegetable and I didn't have to cook at all, so it was super easy.
So then I bought something that says Mirepoix on the package. It's a package of pre-cut veggies: Onions, carrots and celery.
Mirepoix is a standard base used in a lot of French dishes. According to Wikipedia:
Usually the vegetable mixture is onions, carrots, and celery (either common 'pascal' celery or celeriac), with the traditional ratio being 2:1:1—two parts onion, one part carrot, and one part celery.So I spooned some Mirepoix into my cold prep ramen and ate that. It was fine, but not exciting. Then I began adding my broken-in-half snow peas to that and it's wonderful. It's like cold prep vegetarian "stir fry" in a cup, thus the title of this piece.
If you are a picky Westerner who has trouble trying new things, this should be surprisingly friendly to your palate: Noodles, familiar Western veggies found in a lot of French cuisine and snow peas, the most "exotic" ingredient on the list.
The snow peas have a bit more protein than the other veggies, though less than some legumes, which helps make it a well-rounded vegetarian meal. They are "the meat" so to speak (if you come from a meat-and-potatoes family -- like I do -- and tend to think meat = protein).
I also saw other potential options for adding pre-cut vegetables to cold prep ramen, such as julienned carrots, pre-cut onions and pre-cut peppers. So if this isn't your thing, you have lots of ways you may be able to experiment with this to find a variation you like.
This is lunchbox-friendly. You could put a ziploc bag of pre-cut veggies, an ice pack and your ramen noodle cup (and a spoon) in a lunchbox and have this with extremely little prep almost anywhere. (If there is no running water, just bring a bottle of water to prep it.)
I've also tried saltine crackers, which don't excite me but are okay. I think those little oyster-shaped crackers would probably be better, I just didn't happen to have any on hand.
Footnotes
It actually says something like "Diced Mirepoix Vegetable Mix" and then under that it says "Yellow onions, carrots, celery." If you are adding a LOT of veggies to your ramen, you MAY want to add a little salt as well.If you can't get snow peas, sugar snap peas also work.