Forget the packaged stuff and make this intensely flavorful, soul warming Gluten Free Vegetarian Ramen Bowls. Spice up the broth to your liking and dive into this colorful bowl of crisp and tender veggies!
ME BEFORE THE RECIPE…
Well I’m winning on the mom front lately. Two evenings ago Braelyn wacked Emry in the face with a pillow and split her lip open. Granted it was in retaliation of Emry sitting on her face, but still, a bloody lip isn’t quite a justifiable punishment for a few seconds of butt in your face.
Then tonight we had some friends over for dinner and the older kids were locking the younger kids out of the playroom. I thought I would try a new tactic for dealing with Braelyn. Instead of snapping at her and threatening her with consequences if she didn’t play nice, I decided I would approach the situation lightly with a little teasing/joking.
I walked upstairs with Emry and requested that Braelyn open the door. Once she opened the door, I playfully informed her that since she was locking the littles out of the playroom, I had let them help me decide her consequence; we thought it would be a fabulous idea to stick her head in the toilet. I lightly grabbed her arms as if I was going to hoist her over my shoulders and into the bathroom.
Let me pause right here. I just want to make very clear the fact that I have NEVER ever stuck any of my children’s heads in the toilet, nor do I ever plan on sticking any child’s head in a toilet. So, of course, I assumed that my eight year old would know this and realize immediately that I was joking.
Okay, moving on.
Not more than a millisecond later, Braelyn (obviously terrified of receiving a swirlie) busted out into a full on freak out session, flailing and screaming and kicking and smacking everything in sight as if it were her last desperate plea to save herself from the toilet. I quickly saw the scenario derailing and began tickling her, thinking that she would catch on to the joke. I mean, she can’t honestly think I was actually going to flush her face in the potty. Well that assumption proved wrong. To the onset of tickling, she responded with escalated amounts of screaming and wailing and crying and hitting.
Man, I should have stuck with my normal routine of scolding and threatening because obviously “fun disciplinarian mom” does not suit me well. Apparently my kids don’t know how to read my sarcasm.
Anyway, let’s just say the evening ended in utter embarrassment, a traumatized child, and a few extra bites of ice cream cookie sandwich for me once the kids were in bed. It was not an evening or scenario I would like to repeat anytime soon…or ever.
Are you ready to subscribe to my free online parenting tips yet? Haha! Yeah right. I obviously have some of the worst parenting ideas on the planet. I’ll admit, looking back, threatening to put Braelyn’s head in the toilet was not one of my brightest moments.
But aside from my apparent parental shortcomings, I wish that for just one day I could have a solid 24 hours free from preteen drama. Are eight year old’s even considered preteen??? Whether or not they are, my child definitely has a Costco sized case of preteen attitude and I don’t even know how to deal with it. Someone help me!
Like seriously, can we just pick a day and designate it Sass-less Saturday or Moody-less Monday or something like that?! I know it ain’t possible, but a mama can dream, right?!
I guess until my mama dreams come true, I’ll just have to stick with days of the week allocated to food categories rather than an absence of attitude. I will admit, I do like me some Meatless Mondays and Taco Tuesdays.
HERE COMES THE RECIPE…
And speaking of Meatless Monday, I’ve been waiting and waiting and WAITING to share this recipe with you for these Gluten Free Vegetarian Ramen Bowls since I made them about three weeks ago. I just kept getting distracted and they never got posted. But you guys, these are sooooo worth making for a vegetarian meal option. It’s basically the best ramen I’ve ever had, so that’s saying something good right there.
Think of a spicy (or not) vegetarian broth drenching a bowlful of tender raman noodles and an array of crisp and tender vegetables. Oh, and don’t forget the ramen egg. Yeah, I went all out and even made that traditional soft boiled egg that you see floating around in most ramen bowls. There’s a reason for that egg. It’s delicious.
I opted for ease and convenience with these gluten free vegetarian ramen bowls. I used pre-shredded cabbage and carrots, pre-sliced mushrooms, already minced garlic from the jar, bagged mung bean sprouts, and veggie stock from the carton. Doesn’t that just sound like a breeze right there??? Seriously, the only manual labor I performed was thinly slicing the onion and grating the ginger. You could even short cut that with ground ginger, but nothing quite compares to the taste of fresh ginger.
Can you believe I lived in Hawaii for two years (I swear the ramen capital of the world) and never ate a bowl of ramen? Seriously, who does that?! It’s not that I didn’t like ramen or crave it while I was there. It’s just that ramen is NOT naturally gluten free. We would eat Thai food and pho all the time because you could get rice noodles, but all the ramen places we attempted to eat at didn’t have gluten free noodle options.
WHERE TO BUY GLUTEN FREE RAMEN NOODLES
So, you can imagine I pounced on buying a handful of packages of these Bgreen gluten free ramen noodles when I spotted them at the grocery store a few weeks ago. I was skeptical how they would taste since ramen noodles have a distinct flavor and texture, but they were spot on! Now to be honest, they don’t hold their structure quite as well as traditional noodles, meaning that your leftovers will be slightly more mushy, but they’re fabulous the day of.
WHAT MIX-INS TO USE
You can get creative with your ramen mix-ins. Use whatever veggies you prefer whether that’s cabbage, carrots, snow peas, bok choy, dried seaweed, kimchi, scallions, you name it. The base broth is so versatile you can honestly add whatever combo you like.
If you’re not all gung ho about vegetarian, feel free to add thin strips of steak or chicken to the steaming hot broth for an extra boost of protein. If adding steak, swap your veggie or chicken broth for beef stock. Remember, this gluten free veggie ramen bowl does have a soft boiled egg and is much more filling than you would expect. So, if you’re hesitant about eating vegetarian, this is the perfect meal to test out.
HOW TO VARY THE SPICE LEVEL
Also, spice up the broth according to your own preference. You can make a mild broth and then let your family members or guests add their own sambal oelek or sriracha. You can even add a sprinkle of red chili pepper flakes for an extra punch of heat. You know, if you’re brave like that.
Some people enjoy adding fresh jalapenos to their bowls for a little fire. You can also stir in a dose or two of hot mustard. Let’s just see how tough you are!
BALANCING FLAVORS AND TEXTURES
I like to add a handful of freshness on top of my ramen bowls for a variety of flavor and texture. If I have a bunch of cooked tender veggies in the broth, I’ll add crispy cabbage, sliced avocado, diced greens onions, and fresh herbs on top. I like the contrast of warm and cool in the same bowl. You can also add chopped peanuts or crunchy chickpeas for texture.
As far as fresh herbs go, you can add either basil or cilantro leaves to your ramen. Either herb is complimentary to the flavors of the ramen.
So there you have it ladies and gents, beautiful gluten free vegetarian ramen bowls catered to your every need. Seriously, these ramen bowls hit all the right notes in flavor and texture. You’ll be adding this to your weekly meal plan for sure.
Go ahead and enjoy your Meatless Monday and I’m gonna go ahead and work some more on marketing this Sass-less Saturday. I have a really good feeling about this.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY…
- Roasted Curry Veggie Salad
- Gluten Free Lentil Veggie Breakfast Bowl
- Vegetarian Thai Coconut Curry
- Gluten Free Chickenless Chicken Noodle Soup
- Gluten Free Roasted Veggie Bowls with Lime Peanut Sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, cut into thin strips
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger (1 teaspoon ground)
- ½ teaspoon grated turmeric (3/4 teaspoon ground)
- salt and pepper
- 6 cups chicken stock or veggie broth
- 3 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons sambal oelek (or sriracha)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce or oyster sauce (optional)
- 2 cups shredded carrots (I used already shredded bagged carrots)
- 1 package Bgreen organic brown rice noodles (8.8 oz)
- 6 eggs
- 1½ cups shredded purple cabbage
- 1½ cups mung bean sprouts
- toppings: toasted sesame seeds, green onions, cilantro
- Soft boil eggs by heating water in a saucepan to boiling. Once boiling, gently place cold eggs in water. Cook for 7 minutes for a runny yolk or 8-9 for a custardy yolk. Immediately remove and place in an ice cold water bath. Let cool for at least five minutes before gently peeling and setting aside.
- While eggs are boiling, begin making ramen. Heat sesame oil and olive oil in a large cast iron pot or soup pot over medium heat. Once pot is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles, add onion and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until onion is tender and beginning to caramelize, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.
- Add garlic, ginger, and turmeric and cook an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add chicken stock (or veggie broth), soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (or sriracha), and fish sauce. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add ramen and carrots. Reduce heat to medium and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Season to taste with additional salt, pepper, and sambal oelek.
- To assemble, spoon soup into bowls. Arrange purple cabbage, mung bean sprouts, and halved egg on top. Sprinkle egg with pepper and toasted sesame seeds. Garnish with cilantro and green onions.
