Sunday, April 10, 2005
I am now a ramen partisan
I find soup a delicious, nutritious, quick and easy meal to make - particularly when cooking for one. I used to nearly always start by using a can of chicken broth as base and adding vegetables and sometimes rice or rice noodles.
Several months ago, I saw a friend using instant ramen to prepare a dish with canned tuna and olives, cabbage, onions, garlic, carrots and maybe a couple other things. It hadn't occurred to me to buy instant ramen since college when I did so mainly because I was living on a shoestring budget. Yes, it's cheap, but cheap can also easy and good! So I've recently been using instant ramen instead of canned broth.
More instant ramen probably means I come closer to getting the recommended daily allowance of sodium.
I made what is pictured above by boiling a cubed yam for 10 minutes and setting it aside, bringing 2 cups of water to a boil with a cubed onion in it, then adding the ramen noodles, a cubed yellow squash, waiting for it to return to a boil and then throwing in a cubed tomato and the ramen flavoring pack and waiting for it to boil again - just 20-30 seconds. All over high heat. All in one pot.
// posted by Erik @ 4/10/2005 08:43:00 PM
permalink
| email post: 
Comments:
(really cheap if you dumpster dive)
2 packets ramen noodles $.20-50
1 small onion $.10-25
1 clove garlic $?really damn cheap
A few sprigs of parsley finely chopped $.99 for enough to make several batches
A few sprigs of cilantro $ see parsley
2 large eggs $.20 (Sorry factory farmed chix)
A couple of splashes of oil $? really cheap
boil noodles, drain most (not all) of the water add 1/2 broth packet/
heat oil on medium add fine chopped garlic and onion saute long enough to cook noodles add noodles and the whipped eggs fry till eggs are well cooked remove from heat add parsley and cilantro
mix and serve.
The ramen is a given usaly get 4-10 packets for a dollar. Dosn't make it to the dumpster.
Onions occasionaly make it to the dumpster, when they do a good washing cut out the bad bits and your good to go.
Never heard of garlic in a dumpster but @ 3 bulbs for a dollar it's no problem.
Parsley and cilantro are a little scary, some stores are friendly to their homeless/destitute nieghbors and set leafy produce to the side or on top. Not very many.
If you learn the schedule of the toss out times you can have reasonable luck with eggs. Otherwise leave them there and avoid breaking them while your looking for food.
You can usaly borrow a cup of oil from a neighbor. Or, go to a oriental resteraunt, order a pint of white rice (above recipe works with rice-use available condiments there to make up for broth packet) and get pocketfuls of hot oil. All of the condiments in a oriental resteraunt work well in a variety of recipes, many involving ramen.
Another way to achieve free everything above except sadly the ramen is to befriend the hippies at your local food co-op. Better for the chix and better quality organic veggies. Co-ops "throw away" dated food to friends and employees.
I've not ever dumpster dived, but I have many times seen grocery workers throwing out produce or bakery items similar to times I've had for five days or a week which I still eat.
Soup is easy: heat it up and eat it up!
Anyway, since you are into recipes, maybe you could give me your recipe that you would want your son to follow for having a good life, based on your experiences. Thanks!
Post a Comment
