Mushroom and Tofu Ramen

Claire Wright

Featuring:

Mushrooms

Effort:

Complexity:

Cost:

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

1 small packet firm tofu, cubed

1 packet mixed mushrooms, sliced (pre-sliced is fine!)

Extra stir fry veg (fresh or frozen), optional - a handful per serve is perfect!

2 tsp each grated/minced garlic and fresh ginger, optional

2 tsp miso, optional but recommended!

500ml stock (made from stock cube, bouillon powder or however you prefer)

200g ramen noodles (discard the flavour packet) or rice noodles (or even udon noodles or spaghetti!)

Watch the video!

The simplicity of ramen, with easy flavours and veggies thrown in for good measure! Watch the recipe video here if you are more of a visual learner.

Method:

Fry the tofu in a large saucepan with about 1 tbsp oil until going golden and crispy, about 5-10 mins. Set aside while you add a little extra oil if needed and fry the sliced mushrooms for 5 mins until darkened. If you are using any other veg, this is the time to add it and fry until just cooked through.

Add garlic and/or ginger, if using, and fry for another 30 secs, then stir in the miso and the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the noodles and cook for as long as your packet says to. Stir the tofu back in and serve.

Engaging Kids

Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.

Kids in the kitchen

The eventual aim, if possible, is to get kids in the kitchen. Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to mean they are with you from start-to-end creating mess and rising stress levels! It can be as simple as giving them one small job (stirring, measuring, pouring, grating, chopping…) ideally involving veg. They can come in to do their little bit, and have fun with you for a few minutes. Getting them involved, making it playful and praising them plenty for their involvement, perhaps even serving it as dinner they “made”, makes it much more likely they will eat the food offered, not to mention teaching them important life skills. Find ideas, safety tips, videos and even a free chart in our Kids in the Kitchen section here.

Activities

While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.

Sensory

Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.

Serving

The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.

Claire Wright

Editor: After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English Literature, Claire worked in various fields ranging from youth work and charities to publishing, before starting up a food-focused website when her first child was born. After being asked to project manage the publication of Veg Power's Crowdfunder book, Claire came on board as a fully-fledged team member in 2018 to take on the role of Communications Manager, then Editor, looking after Veg Power's website, content, recipes and social media platforms.

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