Back when I was in the business of making school lunches, our household churned out somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 lunches a school year. No wonder it sometimes got a little old. One of the biggest challenges wasn’t necessarily having the time or the right ingredients, but finding inspiration. By about lunch number 50, enthusiasm could be hard to come by. Which is why, when I hit upon this Lunch Box Ramen idea, it was cause for excitement.
- It’s perfect thermos food.
- It works for a school lunch, a work lunch, or a lunch at home.
- Prep involves little more than boiling a pot of water along with a teensy bit of chopping and measuring.
- You can make it while you pull together breakfast or even the night before, reheating it in the morning.
Choosing the Right Ramen.
The noodles in many standard brands — appealing because they’re dirt cheap — are deep fried and include seasoning packets chock full of artificial flavorings and other mystery ingredients. If you dig a little deeper, however, you can find ramen that’s air-dried and seasoned largely with, well, seasonings –- herbs and spices. Ramen labeled “organic” are likely to fit into this category.
The one downside to ramen is that it’s high in sodium. You can opt to use less of the spice packet, which may work just fine if your household favors their food mildly flavored. Mine do not (I spied my husband salting his already salty baked beans during a recent meal).
Give your Lunch Box Ramen a Boost
The other trick to a healthful pot of ramen is embellishing it with nutrient-rich goodies. Here, I add edamame, baked tofu, and a generous helping of spinach. The spinach may seem like a lot at first, but it melts right into the soup so as not frighten any green food-phobic children. You can also swap in another cooked vegetable, such as mushrooms, broccoli, or snap peas. As for the baked tofu, feel free to substitute leftover cooked chicken, pork, or beef.
Embellish your Lunch Box Ramen
The recipe given below is nourishing and tasty, but there are endless other ways to give it an added boost of flavor or nutrition (or both). Here are a handful of starter ideas:
- Top the ramen with a thinly sliced scallion.
- Dribble on a little chili crisp or other favorite hot sauce.
- Top with a halved boiled egg. If enjoying at home, I’d go with a jammy egg, that’s still soft in the center.
- Sprinkle with furikake or strips of nori.
- Add a tangle of bean sprouts on top.
If you like Lunch Box Ramen, you might like there other lunch ideas:
Mediterranean Turkey Pinwheels
Prosciutto Arugula Lavash Pizza
Lunch Box Ramen
Keep an eye out for quality ramen, which means it's not deep fried and is devoid of artificial ingredients. Typically organic ramen is a good bet and you can find it in specialty markets and the natural foods section of some supermarkets. Baked and smoked tofu is sold in the refrigerated section of the market near other types of tofu. To reduce the amount of sodium, start with one seasoning packet instead of two. Taste and adjust as needed.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups water
- 2 two-ounce packages organic ramen noodles, any flavor
- 1/2 cup cooked edamame (or another cooked chopped vegetable)
- 1/2 cup cubed baked or smoked tofu (or cooked chicken, beef or pork)
- 2 gently packed cups baby spinach
Instructions
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Pour the water into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Add the ramen seasoning packet and stir. Break up the ramen noodles as you add them to the boiling broth. Add the edamame, tofu, and spinach. Cook 1 minute less than the instructions suggest. Remove from heat. Stir and transfer immediately to thermoses (tongs can be useful to transfer the noodles).