Serves 2

When preparing Ramen, b e careful not to follow the directions when making a package of Ramen.  Most brands tell you to cook the noodles.  If you cook them for the prescribed amount of time you won’t have noodles, you will have mush or wallpaper paste.  I never cook

my noodles.  I put them into a bowl, pour boiling water over them and leave them sit for about 10 minutes.  I also seldom use the packet of flavoring.  I find it way too salty.  I think the noodles have plenty of flavor without the flavor packet, but that’s up to you.  To make an excellent bowl of ramen and use up leftover chicken try the following.

Place the dry noodles in a bowl and add slivered leftover cooked chicken *

Also add any of the following you may have hanging around the house:

1 green onion, finely chopped, including most of the green

2 or 3 mushrooms, sliced thin

A bit of chopped fresh cilantro

A few frozen peas if you have them or

A few snow peas that you have cut into thin strips

A bit of ripe red bell pepper cut into thin strips if you have it

Perhaps a few bean sprouts

A few cubes of tofu

Pour boiling water over everything, cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap and leave sit for about 10 minutes.  When ready to eat, taste and add a bit of sweet soy sauce or soy sauce if you want.  Be careful; soy sauce has a lot of salt.  Add fresh coarse ground black pepper or dry chili flakes to taste.

* Try it with any leftover meat, poultry, fish or seafood