Fresh Ramen Noodles and Veggies for One

My neighbor was moving and couldn’t use her regularly scheduled box of veggie goodness, and she was nice enough to give it to me. It was fun, like a puzzle, to figure out what could be made from this box of random things. Here’s what I came up with. You tell me how I did!

For the Dressing:

2 TBLSP tamari or soy sauce

2 TBLSP rice vinegar

1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar

½ teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons water

2 shakes of garlic powder

2 shakes of ginger powder

For the Salad:

6 ounces of fresh ramen noodles (not the dry ones, although you could use those with different cooking instructions) (Use rice for a gluten-free variation.)

½ ear of corn, kernels removed and collected

½ Persian cucumber, seeded and sliced lengthwise thinly

¼ cup julienned radicchio

2 green onions, diced

1/3 avocado, sliced thinly

½ carrot, julienned or shaved with a potato peeler

2 mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 TBLSP cut wakame (dried seaweed), reconstituted, if desired

1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Variations: Also try mung bean sprouts, peanuts, spinach, arugula--really, anything that's in the veggie bin!

Make the Dressing:

1. In a small bowl, combine the tamari, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and water, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
2. Add in the garlic and ginger powders and stir some more.

Make the Salad:

1. Add the fresh ramen noodles to boiling water, stirring to separate the noodles. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 90 seconds, until tender.
2. Drain thoroughly and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
3. Put the drained noodles in the center of the serving dish and make nice little piles of the salad components around it. Pour the dressing over the top and top with the dried wakame and sesame seeds.

This made one HUGE salad, but I did manage to eat it all. Yummy!

Variation: Try it with rice, too. I used Trader Joe’s Rice Medley, which has mustard seed and wild rice mixed into brown rice. Yummy!