Junk Food Ramen
1 block firm tofu
1 tablespoon oil for frying tofu
1 tablespoon tamari
1 1/2 teaspoons slivered ginger
2 cloves garlic, slivered
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced and then slivered
Optional: other veggies sliced &/or slivered: celery, red bell pepper, mushrooms
2 cups water
1 package vegan ramen
1/3 to 1/2 seasoning packet from ramen (NOT ALL!)
1-2 ripe tomatoes, cut in thin wedges
Cut tofu into thin slabs. Fry in a deep-sided skillet or a wok, over med-high heat, until they begin turning golden, then flip them and try to brown the other side. Lose patience and splash with tamari to get them to hurry up.
When they are as done as you are going to let them get (barely golden to brown), add ginger, garlic, scallions, carrot, and optional veggies and stir-fry until veggies turn brightly colored.
Shove everything to outside edges of wok and pour water into the center. Add 1/3 to 1/2 ramen seasoning packet (more will be saltier) and break uncooked noodles into simmering water with hands-- try for smaller chunks of noodle. Cook and stir until the noodles seem flexible enough. The tofu will break up and lose its corners-- that's fine, it'll be amazing and will look pleasing, too.
Turn off the heat and fold in tomato wedges for color/flavor contrast.
If you're feeling lazy, hungry, and poor, this is so nice. It's quick, colorful, EASY, and very satisfying, and I think it costs about 3 bucks to get the ingredients-- if you don't have them around already. The tofu becomes very deep and rich in flavor.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Kinda like yakisoba. I didn't use the flavoring packet of the ramen so I added a little more soy sauce and some "chicken" seasoning. This was easy to make; there was just enough water to get the ramen properly cook, the rest of which was pretty much absorbed by the noodles anyway. The addition of the vegetables and actual cooking involved made this seem totally not like junk food! Definitely much better than package directions.