Ramen noodles . . . not just for college students anymore

Last week, when it got so hot, I stopped cooking. Then, after a few days, I took the unstoppable heat and the humidity as a kitchen challenge.

I decided I'd run into one grocery store, grab what I needed and get home to get the air conditioner blasting.

I decided I'd make soba noodles with vegetables and mint. That plan melted down as soon as I got inside D'Ag's grocery store. The snap peas were $4.99 a box, though they had already started to brown. So even though they were a key part of the recipe, I skipped the peas. The mint looked fresh so I got some, alone with some carrots and scallions, as called for in the recipe.

They didn't have soba noodles either. I tentatively picked up some ramen noodles, then I put them back on the shelf. I was hooked on ramen noodles in college. My parents bought them for me by the case at BJs. I ate the ramen noodles raw, like chips.

Since graduation, I've done my best to quit ramen noodles and serve my pasta cooked. In a rush and unwilling to go to another store in search of soba, I found these Chinese Noodle ramen noodles. I was hoping these would be less greasy than the ramen of my past and they were.

Some salad recipes encourage you to use summer squash raw. I don't like that, so I steamed them. I think steaming brought out the sweetness in the squash, but I think I over-steamed them a bit. I'll work on that for next time. I chopped up the mint, scallions and the carrots. At first I cut the carrots into little match sticks, then I tried some with the carrot peeler like Martha suggested. I'm not sure which I liked better. The peeled slices look better with the noodles, but personally I don't like eating carrot 'peels'. Eating carrots cut with a peeler makes me feel a little like a human garbage disposal.

I made the dressing as the recipe directed, except I substituted regular soy sauce for the tamari soy sauce. (I've had tamari almonds before, but I don't know the difference between regular and tamari soy.)

I found a couple of cucumbers in the back of the crisper, so I threw them in too. They ended up being my favorite part!




The ginger and the mint were great together, hot and cool flavors, pulled together by the sesame oil dressing. Perfect one bowl dinner for a hot night. We ate right in front of the air conditioner.

I'll stock up on soba noodles before the next string of 90 degree days strikes and in the mean time I have to do something with all that mint.

For 353 more(!) ramen recipes, click here.