Lazy Dinner Fancy Ramen

I am just finishing up what has been one of the most overwhelming semesters I've ever had. Answering a friend the other day who inquired about how I was feeling, I responded with "ultrawhelmed." (And to be honest, I'm not really done, but next week is finals week and prepping for other things, so I have new/different tasks in which to engage.) This semester is the main reason for my major absence from this blog. To be honest, we've not even been sticking to out meal plan as much as we would normally, as there have been a number of nights where I've just been too busy or tired or both to cook (and Shana gets home too late usually).

In addition to this semester, Shana and I drove home from Chicago today after a 40-hour visit (I was there for a conference) and we had to clean up our house because tomorrow night is the semi-annual Minion Dinner. We've got 7 students coming over tomorrow night for a dinner of soups, salads, and breads (and cookies!!). So, when we got home, we had to clean and go grocery shopping to prepare for tomorrow, which didn't leave a lot of time for dinner. 

Because of all of that, tonight's dinner was another perfect lazy dinner: fancy ramen. The only reason we call this "fancy" ramen is because we put something other than just the ramen noodles in the pot. Because it's ramen, this dinner is SUPER fast and easy, plus it's pretty cheap even with the added ingredients. As I've talked about before (see the Helpful Hints), there is only one easily obtainable brand and flavor of ramen that has a vegan flavor packet.

Fancy Ramen

Ingredients

2 1/2 c. water

1 package Nissen Top Ramen "oriental flavor"

3-4 leaves napa cabbage or bok choy, chopped
1 scallion, chopped

1/4 brick of tofu, in small cubes

dash of soy sauce, optional

Directions

1. Boil water on the stove. 

2. Add flavor packet, napa/bok choy, and packet noodles. Cook 2 minutes. 

3. Add tofu, continue to cook until noodles are desired consistency. 

4. Add soy sauce, if using. 

Helpful Hints

• You could totally add other ingredients to this to make it even fancier. I envision (just off the top of my head) a garnish of green onions and sesame seeds, a little bit of hot sauce (especially if it's Asian in nature), shredded carrots, etc. 
• If you can't find this brand of ramen, you can buy another brand and just not use the flavor packet. That will change the nature of the ease a bit, but hey, we do what we have to do. 

The post "Lazy Dinner Fancy Ramen" first appeared on Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.