A Quick Vegan Ramen For Busy People

I made some changes to my life this year, all with the intention of living more in line with my values. I found that I was so busy running around from one meeting or work trip to the next that I was not able to do all of the things that helped me to live in balance and make decisions from a grounded place. Most of the changes have been small, and my schedule is still full, but I am now able to move a little slower and have more control over what I do when.

This convenient life

Slowing down has also given me more time to reflect on what our fast lifestyle means for our food system. When we are chronically busy, running from one to do list item to the next, we tend to expect our food to keep up with us. Convenience becomes king and we more often turn to pre-prepared meals, snacks and food prepared outside of our homes to nourish us. This has a lot of implications we don’t see. When we eat out, we usually eat less healthily than we would if we cooked for ourselves. Convenience food and pre-prepared ingredients spoil faster, leading to greater food waste (beside the rather obvious packaging waste). And not surprisingly, all this eating out means we are not building our own cooking skills.

Taking back control of what is on our plate

Generally, I worry about these situations that lead us to outsource most of our food and nutrition decisions. They may seem like good solutions at the time, but my feeling is that we need to start tackling the bigger elephant in the room instead – our hectic lifestyle. How can we slow down, even just the tiniest amount, and pull healthy eating further up the priority list? I think this starts with working out what barriers our busy lives put between us and getting in the kitchen. Here are some common ones:

• Too tired every evening? Blocking out some time on the weekend to do a big shop and cook up your food for the week could be an option for you!

• Lack cooking skills and confidence in the kitchen? How about carving out some time to do a course or an online training, or just pick some really simple recipes and start building up from there.

• No time to cook during the week? Learn and practice some easy meals like this quick vegan ramen which you can whip up in a few minutes after you get home.

Here is what I have learned first-hand – seriously thinking about your priorities in life, living intentionally, saying “no thank you” to unnecessary things and cutting down on distractions like social media and TV series can make a HUGE amount of space in your life. Then you can promptly fill that with nourishing activities like cooking healthy meals. It may feel like a challenge in the beginning, but if we take a more minimalist approach to living and focus on what is really important to us, we can certainly find the time and motivation to put nourishing ourselves first. I promise you will not only feel better but will also find joy in the process.

Quick vegan ramen to the rescue

Why not try out some of these ideas by making this quick vegan ramen soup? It is incredibly easy to whip up, needs just few ingredients and will be on the table in less than 20 mins. It the perfect mid-week solution when you are debating getting take-out again. Don't do it, make this ramen instead!

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Quick Vegan Ramen For Busy People

Recipe Type: Soup | Cuisine: Asian | Author: Michelle - The Great Full

COOK TIME: 20 mins

TOTAL TIME: 20 mins

Serves: 2

A super simple and incredibly quick vegan ramen to help you eat a healthy dinner even on your busiest evenings.

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sesame oil

• ½ onion, diced (normal, brown or red onion)

• 15g fresh ginger, grated (thumb-sized piece)

• 250g mushrooms, sliced (shitake or a mix of different mushrooms)

• 4 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)

• 1L vegetable stock

• 2 cakes brown or black rice ramen (or Soba noodles)

• 2 large handfuls baby spinach, rinsed (or use 300g bok choy, chopped)

• 200g silken tofu, cut into cubes 1.5cm2

• 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice

• Handful fresh coriander (optional to serve)

• Handful of chopped peanuts or cashews (optional to serve)

Instructions

1. Prep ingredients: dice onion, grate ginger, slice mushrooms, cube tofu, rinse and drain spinach.

2. Put 2 tbsp sesame oil in a pot (minimum capacity 3 L), add onion and ginger and sautee on medium to high heat for a couple of minutes or until onion becomes transparent. Add mushrooms and stir until coated in oil mixture. Sautee for a few minutes until mushrooms start to brown.

3. Prepare stock – if using home-made or liquid stock, simply heat this up. If using powdered stock, boil 1 L of water then add the stock powder in the amount indicated on the packet.

4. Add tamari to mushroom mixture and stir until combined.

5. Add the warm stock to the pot. Stir then leave for a few minutes until it starts to simmer.

6. Add the cakes of ramen into the simmering pot. Check on the packet how long the ramen needs to cook then put on the kitchen timer for that amount of time. When the ramen are cooked, turn the heat off but leave the pot on the hotplate so it stays warm (if you use gas, just turn it down very low).

7. Add the spinach to the pot and put the lid on, leaving it for a few moments until it wilts. Once it has wilted, remove the lid and add the tofu and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Serve in two soup bowls, topping with some chopped coriander and nuts (optional) before serving.

Quick Vegan Ramen