Kale Red Pepper Stir Fry
People often tell me that they find eating healthy time consuming and even expensive – but, quick, budget friendly, and filling stir fries like this are my proof that that’s not necessarily the case.
Economical and filling Ramen noodles (minus the “sauce” packet) were a lifesaver when I was in college – in fact, my roommates and I had “once a week Ramen noodle get-togethers”. There were four of us and every Thursday evening, we would have a “Ramen-night”; with concoctions like “fried vegetable Ramen”, “TufoRamen”, “Ramen and turkey balls”, “Ramensagna”, and “Ramen pilaf with boiled eggs” occupying center stage on our little fold-able table.
As time moved on and we went our separate ways, Ramen noodles started to gradually fade out of my weekly grocery list till about a year ago, when I came across some Black Rice Ramen Noodles by Lotus Foods at Whole Foods (by the way, I am not being compensated for this – I just adore these noodles). These Black Rice Ramen Noodles were vegan, gluten free, low in sodium and fat – and they helped bring Ramen-recipe ingenuity back to my daughter’s and my dinner table!
On evenings when we have to be everywhere but home, stir fries are my go to! Today I would like to share this stir fry, which starts off with an immune boosting base of roughly chopped and sauteed onions, ginger and garlic. To this I added a hefty serving of kale, celery, red pepper, corn and black beans and threw in some ready-in-four-minutes Black Rice Ramen. I am not very organized in laying my ingredients out, but, I like to chop my veggies as I go – so while the onions are sauteing, I chop the red pepper and celery, etc. If, however, chopping is not your thing – a cup or so of frozen veggies of your choice will also work their magic. After all these colorful ingredients were in the pan, I added some turmeric, cayenne, coriander, paprika and chili powder to unite them all so that each mouthful would be approved by my picky teen!
I am so honored and thrilled to be guest posting for Bobbi over at Bam’s Kitchen today! I have drooled over Bobbi’s delicious Sakura Shortbread Cookies and Chewy Black Sesame Cookies (I have the stained keyboard to prove it) for a very long while. I have long admired all the healthy eats and treats Bobbie strives to feed her boys – in spite of the busyness of life. Like Bobbi – I try to keep most of my eats and treats somewhat healthy and tasty for my picky teen. Please head to Bam’s Kitchen to grab this full recipe.
This looks SO good! Definitely going to give it a try this week. Visiting you from The Sits Girls blog hop.
-Andrea@TablerPartyOfTwo
Thank you so much Andrea! So glad you stopped by!
I just love all the colors in this dish!! What can I say, pretty food just speaks to me! haha 🙂
And black rice ramen?? That is so cool! I need to look for that next time I’m at Whole Foods!
We are supposed to be eating with our eyes – correct?
What an eye popping dish! So festive. Love all the veggies you added.
Thanks so much Jeanette – I do love my veggies 🙂
You and Bobbi make the most interesting food that’s colorful, tasty and healthy.
Thanks Maureen – Boobi and You rock! 🙂
I’m a huge Ramen lover – just plain because I’m simple like that:)
This stir fry looks awesome – the ramen noodles look a little like worms.
Hahaha! Kim that’s what I thought too! 🙂 I ate so much of the plain ramen in college, I am not a fan of it anymore!
Shashi, my body is screaming ‘Give me some veggies!!’ this week (oh dear, and it’s not even christmas week yet!) so this dish is just what I need. It looks so packed full of goodness!
I know what you mean – our bodies are quite smart at figuring out what we need – our job is to only listen 🙂
Such a beautiful plate! I never heard of the black noodles, they sound delicious!
Thanks Cindy – yes they were quite delicious – here’s a link for them – http://www.lotusfoods.com/index.php/products/rice-ramen/organic-forbidden-rice-ramen-4-ramen-cakes/
This looks so fabulous! I’ve never seen black rice ramen noodles, but now I’ll be on the lookout. I love your choice of all of those yummy veggies too.
Thanks so much Marissa! Sometimes a gal needs her veggies 🙂
Oh my goodness, we used to do the same thing with those ramen noodles in packages! This version looks a bazillion times better and much healthier 🙂 Love that you used black rice ramen noodles, they sound incredible packed with all these tasty veggies! Can’t wait to hop over and check out the recipe!
Haha – good to know my college roommates and I were the only crazy ramen concoction experimenters! 🙂
Thanks so much Kelly!
I would eat this delicious stir fry for the colours alone 😀
A definite dinner to try!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks so much Urvashi! I must say – I do love colors on my dinner plate too 🙂
You’re right – eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. I have to remind myself of that sometimes! I love a good stir fry. Have a great week next week – I will be out of town and maybe disconnected from the blogging world 🙂
I am so glad you agree, Ashley!
Have a safe trip and a wonderfully Merry Christmas – and if I don’t happen to speak to you before the 31st, then happy happy New Year, my friend!
xxx’s!
Sounds absolutely fantastic! I adore those flavours together, and your photography is just amazing!
Thank you so very much Alessandra for your incredibly kind words and for stopping by!
Hi Shashi, black ramen is very new to me, every bit of this dish sounds delicious, love Bobbi’s site.
Thanks Cheri – yes, I adore Bobbi’s site too! 🙂
Black rice Ramen is available on Amazon too in case a trip to WF is inconvenient – http://www.amazon.com/Lotus-Foods-Ramen-Noodles-Forbidden/dp/B00HKIBNBU
My sister and I used to always make Ramen noodles – without the “sauce”! This stir fry looks like a much better option 😉
Thanks so much Alanna – we used to throw the sauce away – that sauce was filled with all kinds of things we had no idea even how to pronounce!
Holy wow, the colors are gorgeous! Great picture and recipe! Keep em’ coming!
Thanks so very much Autumn! Thanks for stopping by – hope to see you back again 🙂
this almost looks too pretty to eat! although i love a good slurp of noodles!
“too pretty to eat” – that’s not in my vocab! 😉
Black ramen noodles, eh? Shashi, you find the most incredible ingredients…and then turn them into even more incredible dishes! I want to switch places with your daughter one day and eat some of these delicious Shashi-creations. (I won’t make a peep…you won’t even know that we switched places for the day.)
Laura and I have talking about doing a stir fry dinner for a while now. This might be the umph that I needed to actually do it. Stir fry always reminds me of Chow Baby…which was definitely on my top 10 list of favorite restaurants in Atlanta! Thanks for reminding me that the restaurants up here wouldn’t even land on the top 100 list in Atlanta. Hmph. 😉
Hmmm…seeing y’all both have dark hair I see where I might not even know y’all switched places!!! 🙂
Stir fries are so so quick and easy – even without a wok – they happen more times than my daughter likes them too – I think she would love to trade places with Laura and eat some of those ah-mazing David-creations!
Chow baby is one heck of an awesome restaurant – I remember wishing I had the digestive system of a cow when I ate there once a long while ago – so much food!!!
So checking this out! Looks fantastic!
Thanks so much Rebecca!
I love stir fries–perfect for weeknight dinners. Those black rice noodles are intriguing! I’m already planning a Whole Foods run later today.. I’m going to look for them!
I hope you found them – if not Amazon sells them too – http://www.amazon.com/Lotus-Foods-Ramen-Noodles-Forbidden/dp/B00HKIBNBU !
So true that healthy eating doesn’t have to be hard or overcomplicated! Love this big bowl of veggies. It looks like a rainbow in there!
Thanks so much Joanne!
I saw this dish over at Bam’s and think it looks really incredible! So healthy and I just love those noodles.
Thank you so much Amy! I so appreciate your kind words 🙂
What a beautiful dish. Doing up a stir fry is my go to as well, especially when I have a bit of this and that in the fridge. I’ve got to hunt down those black rice noodles!
Thanks so much Katie! Stir fries are a staple on busy nights in our house – so quick and easy – and a good way to get teens involved too. I did a Google search and found those same black rice ramen I found at Whole Foods on Amazon too – heres the link in case – http://www.amazon.com/Lotus-Foods-Ramen-Noodles-Forbidden/dp/B00HKIBNBU
I love how colorful this is! It looks delicious! :] I’ve actually never seen black ramen noodles before. Will be on the lookout the next time I’m out grocery shopping back in CA!
Thanks so much Farrah!
Apparently, these black rice ramen are available on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Lotus-Foods-Ramen-Noodles-Forbidden/dp/B00HKIBNBU – am starting to believe that EVERYTHING is on Amazon these days! 🙂
Nooooo, this was just a sneak peak? That was almost as mean as the cliff hangers at game of thrones. Ok, I will head over bams kitchen then 😉
Ps: when it comes to be laying out the steps and chop as you cook, I usually get all ingredients first on the table. Definitely helped me a lot in getting my recipes right and done quicker.
I wish I was that organized – I always end up looking in the fridge or pantry and pulling out just one more ingredient!
I love those black rice noodles! The stirfry sounds and looks super duper delicious, Shashi,
Thanks so much Angie!
Never seen a dish like this before. This is really a clever dish with so much going on in there. Love it
Thanks so much Taruna! On busy nights,it’s just so easy to throw everything into one pot 😉
I’ve never seen black ramen noodles before. They do add a whack of colour to the dish. What you have made looks very healthy. I’ll see you over at Bams! xx
Tanks so much Charlie – btw – I wonder if Amazon has a branch down under too? I know they have it as one of their items!
xxs
this is such great and delicious dish!
Thank you so much!
Really delicious recipe, I have never seen black ramen before but love black rice. How delicious and you are so right, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a delicious healthful meal. Beautiful photo’s and will head over to Bam’s to check out the recipe.
Thank you so much Suzanne! You know what – I have yet to try plain black rice! The only place I seem to find it at is Costco and that’s a lot of rice for two people!
Yum! I had black rice…rice for the first time a few months ago and really enjoyed it. This is such a unique looking dish and knowing you, I’m sure it’s delicious! I’ll have to pop over and check out the full recipe 🙂
Awww shucks – Amy you are way too kind! Next time you happen to be in Atlanta – I will make this for you – deal? 🙂
Hope this Christmas is a good one for you, dear.
xxs