Vegan Ramen Bowl with Unami Broth, Vegetables and Tofu

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Here’s how to turn the trendiest carb into a healthy, steaming bowl of deliciousness at home. Make a simple Dashi Broth and add flavor-packed elements.


2.20.16 - vegan ramen-10
Winter is hanging around for two more weeks with warmer days and cooler nights – this comforting, light soup is just right for lunch, dinner, or an on-the-go snack. This is my second recipe working with gluten-free ramen noodles – a tasty and nutritional broth and colorful, crisp vegetables swirled in. Yes – healthy goodness in a bowl! Gluten and dairy free – you are just moments away from a delicious meal you can feel happy about eating… and slurping!

One pot cooking makes preparation a breeze: sauté the flavoring ingredients, add the vegetable broth – enhanced with kombu, then the squiggly cooked ramen, raw veggies and sesame tofu. All simmers in a few minutes, and your steamy bowl of ramen awaits you. Serve in individual bowls with chopsticks and spoons – for slurping up every last bit of broth.

Extra vegetables elevate it to a main meal, with less carbs – cubes of tofu and sesame seeds adds protein. Everything is fresh, barely cooked and delicate, but the flavor is robust thanks to the Dashi broth, ginger, shallots, scallions, garlic, umami rich shiitake mushrooms and pungent chili paste.

A single word holds the key to the magic of dashi (a Japanese stock with a delicate flavor) – Umami. This bowl of ramen is blazing with Unami ingredients – it is quick and easy to whip up a batch of simple Dashi, with a good vegetable broth and Kombu (the king of seaweed) – rich with Umami, the fifth, savory flavor.

In Japanese,  Umami translates roughly to “Good Taste” and is the savory essence that makes your mouth water –  the flavor is long-lasting.

There is a recent explosion of ramen in the States, a reason this dish inspired an international trend. Ramen, the dorm room staple, has now reached a level of popularity that was once unimaginable, with restaurants serving creative bowls with new flavor twists.

I’m loving the selection of dried ramen noodles available in health food shops. Unlike the bargain fried blocks of ramen with the undesirable packets of toxic seasonings – check out the many organic, gluten-free types, like the buckwheat ramen I used in this recipe. Made from buckwheat flour and water, they have the most fiber of all ramens- 5 grams per serving, and zero sodium. They are wheat and gluten-free.

On the shelves of supermarkets, ramen usually contains such unsavory ingredients such as MSG, oodles of salt, fat, empty carbs, and not a vitamin in sight. So here’s how to make your ramen healthy while simultaneously not bankrupting yourself!

Snow peas, multi-colored carrots and spinach add a bolt of antioxidants and crunch – choose the vegetables you love or have on hand to create you personal taste preference.

This recipe was featured in Mind Body Green last week 3/5/16, and was wildly popular! Mind Body Green’s mission is “to revitalize the way people eat, move, & live!” A wonderfully uplifting site! https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-23936/vegan-ramen-to-get-you-through-the-last-days-of-winter.html

Also see my other ramen noodle recipe:

Thai Ramen Noodle Bowl with Chicken, Veggies, Basil and Peanuts

Enjoy!

Karen

Buckwheat Ramen Noodles - available at health food stores

Ingredients for the ramen

Homemade Dashi Broth is easy to make and very nutritious

Add protein rich Tofu to the bowl for extra protein ( sesame seeds have protein too!)

A bowl of satisfying goodness!

 

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