Ramen Noodle Stir Fry

I know I give ramen noodles a hard time, but I secretly love them. Like many people, they helped get me through college, and since then I've learned to put them to use as the secret ingredient behind many a quick and easy meal.

She doesn't know it, but I first learned the secret of "pumping up" ramen back when we were 18 and I watched one of my very best friends crack an egg in her instant noodles, sprinkle it with nutmeg and call it a meal. There's no rule that says you have to eat your ramen or cup noodles pure and out-of-the-package. Add some meat, or vegetables or even just an egg and suddenly you've nearly got yourself through dinner- or at least a quite decent lunch.

Of course, the best thing about ramen is the speed. Next to heat-and-eat udon, I don't think there's any other noodles out there that are ready to eat after only 3 minutes of boiling. So next time you're unsure what to throw together for dinner and you're reaching for that ramen packet, think about what quick and easy ingredients you have around that you can throw in to pump it up. You might be surprised what you come up with...

[Prep: 10min / Cook: 10min]

Ingredients

- 1/2 lb (250 grams) beef steak, any cut

- 2 packets beef ramen instant noodles (with seasoning packets)

- handful of baby carrots (about a cup)

- handful of snow or snap peas (about a cup)

- 1/2 can (about 4 oz) of water chestnuts

- dash pepper

- dash chili powder

- 1 Tbs soy sauce

- 1 Tbs olive oil

Steps

1. Put a couple cups of water in a pot and set to boil.
2. Meanwhile, slice the beef into thin-ish strips.
3. Heat a large saucepan or wok. Once heated, add the oil, followed by the beef.
4. Add the ramen noodles to the water which should be boiling. Put the seasoning packets aside. If your ramen comes with chili powder, sprinkle it on the beef. Otherwise, add your own pepper and chili powder to the beef.
5. While the beef browns, rinse the baby carrots and cut them in half lengthwise, then cut them in half lengthwise again. Rinse the peas and throw them in with the beef whole, along with the sliced carrots.
6. Slice the water chestnuts however you please and add to the pan as well. Stir fry the meat and veggies for a few minutes until the veggies become crisp-tender (about 5 minutes).
7. Strain the water from the noodles and add them to the stir-fry. Drizzle the soy sauce and the seasonings from the ramen packet on top. Give it a good stir to mix everything up, then turn off the heat.
8. Ready to eat!

[Serves 2]

Recipe adapted from Simple One Dish, 

Easy Asian Skillet and Quick 'n' Tangy Beef Stir-Fry

Variations

• Obviously, you can make this with an assortment of meats. Though if you decide to use pork or chicken instead, I recommend using the pork or chicken ramen packets.
• Part of what makes this recipe so quick and easy is the careful selection of easy-to-handle veggies. When using other veggies (particularly the popular broccoli), keep in mind that it will probably add to the prep time. Using a frozen variety will certainly help, but you may want to nuke the frozen veggies shortly in the microwave first, 'less you will need to stir-fry a bit longer. Alternatively, the original recipe says to use frozen veggies, but to boil them with the ramen before adding it all to the meat. Quite efficient, but boiled vegetables are icky.
• As mentioned, probably the only thing faster than ramen noodles are udon noodles- yummy, thick [also] Japanese noodles that are easy to find pre-cooked. Udon is most often eaten in soup, but I've used them in a similar manner in stir-frys with great results.  

Veggie Soup à la Rani

In the first of what I hope are many submissions by friends and OntheFly readers, I'm happy to present my dear friend Rani's veggie soup. Rani is a far better cook than I am, so I am very grateful that he sent this recipe my way for soup month. He's also a bit of a 'closet chef', so if you like this recipe, do take a second to show your appreciation in the comments or on Facebook so that I may have more ammunition when encouraging him to go to culinary school.


And if you would like to send me easy, flying recipes of your own, I'm happy to announce that this week I've activated a new email account to receive your submissions: recipes@ontheflyrecipes.com


[Prep: 10-20min* / Cook: 15min-2hrs**]
*depends on your chopping skills
**all veggie, so edible when boiled, but flavors improve with prolonged cooking

- 4 cups (1L) beef broth

- 4 zucchinis

- 4 celery stalks

- 3 carrots

- 2 tomatoes
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 butternut squash
- 1/2 cup of bean sprouts

- 3 tsp each pepper, cumin, coriander, ginger root

- 2 tsp each salt, garlic powder, oregano,

- 1 tsp chili powder

- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 Tbsp each cilantro and parsley
- 1 Tbsp sage
- 3 tsp basil


1.  Get the broth boiling (or dissolve a beef bouillon cube in water to make beef broth) and start chopping the veggies. Discard bell pepper seeds and thoroughly rinse the bean sprouts.  Set the onion aside.
2.  Dump the veggies into the top with all the beautiful spices.
3.  As that all gently boils, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the onions with the herbs from the second portion of the ingredients list until the onion turns clear. Dump in the pot with all the rest.
4.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook until veggies reach desired softness and broth is flavorful.
5.  Ready to eat!

[Serves 2, twice]

Variations

• This isn't quite vegetarian because of the use of beef broth, but if vegetarian is what you desire, you can- of course -swap out veggie broth for the beef.
• If you're like me- not a vegetarian and want your soup to be as much of a full meal as possible -I would add cubed beef tips (or any other decent stewing beef) in the beginning. Add some toast and you're meal is done!
• OR really make it a meal and add cubed potatoes, orzo or rice and have a hearty stew.

Blackened Flank Steak and Sauteed Spinach

You may finally be finishing up your Christmas ham left-overs, but there's still time to sneak in one more red and green meal before New Years- that is, if you're a fan of red meat :)








Blackened Flank Steak

- 1lb flank steak
- Worcestershire sauce
- garlic and onion powder
- cajun seasoning or chili powder
- black pepper
- olive oil

1.  Moderately tenderize your steak with a hammer or by vigorously stabbing it with a fork on each side.
2.  Drizzle Worcestershire sauce on both sides of the steak and spread with a fork to coat fairly evenly.
3.  Lightly sprinkle with garlic, onion and cajun/chili powder, then coat with a hefty dose of black pepper.  (both sides)
4.  Meanwhile, heat a skillet over high heat and add oil to the pan.  When the oil is just about to smoke, throw in the steak and scorch each side for about a minute.  Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook for 5 minutes on each side (medium rare) or until the steak reaches your desired level of doneness.
5.  Cut in long slices against the grain and you're ready to eat!

[Serves 2]

Notes

• I have trouble finding flank steaks in the US anywhere but Super Target.  This may be an anomaly, but if not, a skirt steak or a flank steak masquerading as a "London broil" will also do.
• A fillet knife makes slicing this steak a breeze, but I've found that a big bread knife is pretty good for slicing beef too.
• I often find when blackening that a ton of my pepper and spices come off in the pan and burn up.  If you dust some more pepper while it's cooking, you'll still have a mess, but you won't lose too much flavor.  Some other ways I've seen to keep better hold of your spices include:
• Rubbing the spices into the meat
• Lightly coating the meat in oil first 
• Mixing oil/butter in a bowl with the spices before coating, then using the same mixture to baste the meat throughout cooking
• Coating the meat in raw egg white before seasoning

Sauteed Spinach

- 2-4 cups fresh, raw spinach leaves

- 2 cloves of garlic sliced / garlic powder / garlic granules

- grated parmesan cheese

- olive oil

1.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add about a tablespoon of oil and season the oil with the garlic.

2. Throw in the spinach and saute for no more than 5 minutes, keeping the spinach moving in the pan with a spatula.  Just as all the spinach is wilting, sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese and remove from pan.

3.  Ready to eat!

[Serves 2]

Recipe adapted from Quick and Easy Sauteed Spinach by Denee on Allrecipes.com

Hearty Beef and Spinach Pasta

Quick, dirty and festive!
This all-in-one meal gets dinner done!







- bow tie (farfalle) pasta... about 2 cups dry
- 1/2lbs+ of ground beef (.2 to .3kg)
- 8oz. can of tomato sauce or paste
- 8oz. of whipping cream
- fresh, raw spinach
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- garlic powder
- onion powder


1.  Boil pasta according to package directions.  Drain.
2.  Spray a large saucepan lightly with cooking spray and begin browning the beef over medium-high heat with a dash each of garlic and onion powder.
3.  When the meat begins to change color, add the tomato sauce and cream.
4.  Bring to a boil.  Turn heat to low and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes.
5.  Stir in the cooked pasta, cheese and spinach.
6.  Pasta is finished when the cheese melts and the spinach begins to wilt.
7.  Enjoy!

[Serves 2]

Notes:

• A lot of people like to drain the fat from their beef.  I prefer to buy lean beef so I can skip that step and let the meat cook in the sauce.  To drain your beef, cook it fully first (about 5-10 minutes 'til there's no more pink) then remove it to a bowl or plate lined with a paper towel for a few minutes before putting it back in the pan with the sauce.
• How much cheese and spinach?  I throw both in by the handful, but start with about 1/2 cup of cheese and 2 cups of fresh spinach and add on from there as you please.
• To make this dish a more rounded meal, add chopped onions, tomatoes and mushrooms!