Ever since my early 20s, when I discovered that I could add frozen veggies to my Top Ramen*, I have been fundamentally incapable of making a bowl of plain ramen soup.
Even on nights like tonight, when I logged out of the day job late and have a broken dishwasher, so I have to wash every dish by hand (the cats go through a LOT of bowls! 🙀), I didn’t have a lot of time or energy to devote to feeding myself. I had one packet of ramen noodles left in the pantry** and thought that would be a nice, quick dinner.
Then…THEN, as I was getting the remainder of Charlie and Clancy’s canned food out of the fridge, I spotted the mushrooms. “Those would be great in the soup!” I thought. Then saw the 1/2 yellow bell pepper and yellow onion and thought I really ought to use those up too. And I had some broccoli–gotta get that extra fiber! OH! I can add some of the asparagus I got at Harris Teeter that was on sale last weekend! Plus a bit of TVP for a bit of meatiness (and protein, of course)***. And, yeah. That “two-minute soup” took a bit longer. And, believe it or not, I somehow managed to squeeze in the actual ramen noodles! I also love to put a big scoop of kimchi on top, but decided tonight that would be overkill.
Not only does it make the soup so much more filling (I’m already full, so I’ll have a lot left over for lunch tomorrow), it’s got so many good nutrients in it that I can almost justify the obscene amount of sodium that’s now flooding my body.
What’s your favorite “make it healthier” meal hack?
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*Seriously, the day I discovered this ramen hack, I thought I could start throwing dinner parties to show off my new chefing skilz!
**How did a six-pack go up to $3.99 at Harris Teeter??? Highway robbery, that is!
***Usually, I’ll add tofu but I didn’t have any desire to deal with draining/pressing/slicing up/sautéing a block of tofu tonight.