Recipe: Leftover Garlic Chicken Ramen

It may seem kind of odd to put a chicken ramen recipe here but the blog is called “The Nightstand.” There should be at least one good cookbook inside the shelf of every nightstand and this one is no exception. This is a recipe to use when you have leftover chicken from last night. It is quick, delicious, and cheap. It requires a bit more preparation and cooking time than just ramen but it is well worth the effort.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Leftover chicken
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 stalks of green onion, sliced
• 1 tsp garlic powder/one diced clove of garlic
• 1 Chicken Ramen package

Cooking time: Approximately 15 minutes including preparation

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan on medium heat.

2. After the butter melts, add the garlic and chicken. Once the chicken takes on a bit of color, add the white part of the green onion and saute for about two minutes. Set aside.

3. On the same pan, increase heat to medium high, add the carrots and let it fry from the butter for about four minutes then add your water.

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4. Once the water is boils, add the seasoning packet, turn down the heat to medium, and add the chicken ramen of your choice. Lowering the heat will prevent overcooking and will result in a firm noodle. Or not. It is up to you if you want soft noods or hard noods. I prefer firm noods myself.

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5. Pour your noodles into a bowl with the chicken and the green onions. Enjoy.

That was easy right? This versatile dish can be modified with pork instead of chicken. This was originally made of leftover lechon*. Instead, omit the butter and just throw the pork belly (or bacon) into the sauce pan. The pork should have enough fat to fry itself and the vegetables.

*Lechon is Spanish dish typically referring to a slow-roasted pig stuffed with spices.

You can also replace the chicken with mushrooms if you are not big American meat-eater like me. This is something I have not tried yet but let me know if ever make it.

This thing is not healthy so try not to have too many. This thing is packed with sodium and cholesterol, so again, try not to have too many. At least there are carrots in it, right?