A hearty bowl of winter vegetable ramen is just the thing to warm you up!
In the weeks leading up to a big trip, I always do what I can to stuff my face with the foods I think might be hard to come by while I’m on the road.
Before I went to China I ate a ton of Mexican food.
Before I went to Cartagena I ate a ton of Italian food.
Before I went to Italy I ate a ton of Thai food.
You get the idea, right?
Right. So this trip is a bit of an oddity because I’m visiting so many different places. I’m hitting Portugal, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Hungary over the course of four weeks — yes, I’m a little crazy.
I’ve banned anything Lebanese/Mediterranean/middle eastern from my diet for the past couple of weeks because I have a feeling that I’ll be getting my fill on this trip.
But…. what about ramen? A girl needs ramen in her diet and vegetables in ramen.
Especially this ultra hearty winter version with roasted acorn squash and brussel sprouts, crispy tofu, shiitake mushrooms, carrot ribbons, and gorgeous ramen eggs.
Now, there are a couple of different ways you could tackle making this dinner.
Here’s how I would handle it:
The night before you want to have this for dinner, roast twice as much squash and brussel sprouts you will need. Eat the extra veggies with whatever you’re having for dinner the night before (I recommend pasta or buddha bowls) and save the other half for the ramen.
Soft boil a few eggs, plunge them into an ice bath, and carefully peel away the shell. Marinate them overnight in the fridge and the next day you’ll have ramen eggs!
The next morning, spend 5 minutes tossing the broth ingredients into the slow cooker. Go about your day.
That night, pan-fry some tofu. While the tofu is in the pan, add your noodles to the slow cooker. Ladle the broth and noodles into serving bowls, top with the roasted veggies, raw shiitakes and carrot ribbons, tofu, and sliced ramen eggs.
If you like you can top your ramen bowls with jalapeno slices and green onions.
There are many different vegetables to put in ramen. I’ve also made ramen vegetables with roasted sweet potato and cauliflower before, which was really tasty. Next time you find yourself roasting a bunch of veggies, remember this winter vegetable ramen and make twice as much!
The other way of making this is, of course, preparing all of it at once. You might prefer to leave this method for a weekend. I’ve included a note in the recipe card about preparing the broth on a stove-top.
Oh, and one last thing: when you roast the vegetables, don’t toss the brussel sprouts skins that come loose from the heads. Roast them as well, then save them to use as a crispy topping for your veggie ramen bowls. You can thank me later.
Here’s the Recipe!
Winter Vegetable Ramen Bowls Recipe
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
Ingredients
For the Broth
- 1 inch of ginger root - sliced into thin coins
- 3 cloves garlic - peeled and smashed
- 6 cups vegetarian chick'n broth
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons miso paste
- 2 teaspoons mirin
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
For the Ramen
- 1 medium acorn squash - sliced into 16 wedges
- 10-12 brussel sprouts - trimmed and halved
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 2 3 ounce packages instant ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded
- 14 ounces firm tofu - cut into bite sized rectangles
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 4 ramen eggs - optional
- 2 carrots - cut into thin strips with a vegetable peeler
- 4 ounce shiitake mushrooms - sliced
- 4 scallions - sliced
- 2 jalapenos - stemmed, seeded, and sliced (optional)
- Sesame seeds for garnish - black or toasted
Instructions
- Prepare the broth by combining the ginger, garlic, broth, soy sauce, vinegar, miso, mirin, and sesame oil in the crock of a large slow cooker*. Cook on high for four hours or on low for eight hours. Strain the ginger and garlic from the pot. Keep warm while preparing the rest of the dish.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss the squash and brussel sprouts with the olive oil and a generous pinch of kosher salt. Transfer to two lined baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the vegetables once halfway through, until browned and tender. (If you have some stray Brussels sprouts leaves, cook them with the rest and then save them to use as a crispy topping for the ramen).
- Meanwhile, place the instant ramen noodles into the hot broth and allow to soften while you prepare the tofu.
- Pat the tofu pieces dry with a paper towel. Toss with a pinch of kosher salt and the cornstarch in a large bowl or zipper-close plastic bag. Heat the sesame oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the tofu in a single layer and cook until browned, about 5 to 7 minutes on each side.
- Divide the broth and noodles into four large serving bowls. Top each with squash, Brussels sprouts, tofu, ramen eggs (if using), carrots, shiitake mushrooms, scallions and jalapeno slices. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve hot.
NOTES
Nutrition
I love your blog! Its concise and I love the way you have it set up!
For tip top taste hunt down some fresh noodles, its like instant coffee versus freshly ground.
(Easy to say in London, bit more difficult outside.)
Yes you can freeze it.