Cold Summer Ramen
I think this recipe would be great made the day after you are grilling. Grill some extra vegetables for this and make the ramen the next day. Alternatively, if it's easy for you to heat up your grill and make this all in one day, that works too! I highly recommend grilling the vegetables but if you can't, you can roast them in the oven or just use raw veggies. Here is the julienne peeler I use. Feel free to make a double batch of the dressing if you like a lot of dressing. Otherwise, I felt this was plenty for 2 servings.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- vegetable peeler
Ingredients
- olive oil extra virgin
- 1 zucchini sliced into thin long strips and grilled
- 1 yellow summer squash sliced into thin long strips and grilled
- 1 bunch asparagus grilled
- 2 carrots peeled and julienned
- 2 to 3 Persian cucumbers julienned
- 2 cobs corn husked, grilled or boiled
- 2 packets ramen noodles any kind, save the powder spice packet
- heirloom cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1 ripe papaya optional
- 3 radishes thinly sliced
- kimchi optional
- sesame seeds
For the dressing:
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
Instructions
- Heat up your gas grill. Drizzle your vegetables with olive oil and grill the vegetables. Cook ramen noodles according to package instructions. (If using regular ramen noodles, save the spice powder packet.) Drain and rinse. Set aside. Tip: if your noodles become sticky sitting out, quickly rinse them under cold water and they should loosen up.
- For the papaya: Make sure you have a ripe papaya. I used a vegetable peeler to peel the outside, and then I used that same vegetable peeler to peel the papaya and create long strips.
- Make the dressing: Whisk together all of the ingredients until combined. Taste, adjust any ingredients if needed and set aside.
- To assemble your cold ramen noodle bowls: Portion out the cooked ramen noodles into shallow, large bowls. Sprinkle on some of the spicy powder packet from your ramen package (if you want some heat; this is completely optional). Drizzle half of the dressing over the top. Arrange the toppings over the noodles as I have in the photos. Feel free to add some kimchi as well. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds and the remaining dressing. Mix together and enjoy!
Notes
For the papaya: Make sure you have a ripe papaya. I used a vegetable peeler to peel the outside, and then I used that same vegetable peeler to peel the papaya and create long strips.If you can't find a papaya, ripe cantaloupe or honeydew melon would also be great in here. If you can't get the shavings, just cut thin long strips. I thought the fruit was a delicious and lovely addition to this ramen. I loved the papaya for this because it's not overly sweet and I love the color.