Bad @ss ramen

I luuuuv ramen. So much. Even the super bad instant ramen. It's all good to me. That being said, I can also appreciate that some ramen is way better than others. However, I didn't realize that until I lived in Japan for 2 years and got to eat lots of delicious ramen there. So it's been exciting for me to see ramen take off in the States, and many of the bigger cities I travel to have some great ramen shops. (I just checked out Ramen-san in Chicago and it was delicious.)

Really ramen is all about the broth...and then the noodles and the fixings. We had been making "spruced up" ramen with good add-ins (e.g., slow cooked beef, soft boiled eggs, green onion, etc), but I hadn't figured out a way to easily do good broth. Enter the Instant Pot. (Lol, this blog seems to be becoming a series of love letters to the Instant Pot...) You can make deeelicious broth in the Instant Pot.

So the nice thing about this recipe is that it's actually the byproduct of another recipe. The first night we made this super easy beef and cheddar Instant Pot recipe. Then the next night we made awesome ramen with the reserved broth and leftover beef.

Suggested Ingredients (really you can use whatever toppings you want...)
~9 oz ramen noodles (I did cheat here and just used the instant pack noodles, tho' I have used better noodles that you can get at Asian markets and even Costco)
-2 hard or soft boiled eggs
-1 C shredded beef
-1 C diced peppers
-4 green onions, chopped into large pieces (I like large b/c they're easier to fish out)
-cilantro
-Sriracha

Steps
1. Get your broth boiling and add in noodles and cook according to package time (usually 3 minutes)

2. Divvy up noodles and broth in bowls, proceed with toppings.

3. Slurp!

Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Nachos or Quesadillas

Prior to getting an Instant Pot, I used to make this in a Crock Pot (just add the chicken and BBQ sauce) and even in the oven. But IMO it's much tastier (and faster) in the Instant Pot.

The really nice thing about this super easy recipe is that it makes 2 meals for us. We usually do quesadillas the first night (not pictured) and then nachos with the leftover chicken mixture the next night.

Ingredients

~1.5 lbs chicken breast

~ 2 C shredded cheese (maybe more for nachos the next night)

-1 can black beans

~1 C BBQ sauce

~1 C frozen corn

-1 handful chopped cilantro

-Tortillas (for quesadillas)

-Chips (for nachos)

Optional toppings

-peppers, jalapenos, sour cream, salsa, etc.

Steps

1. If making chicken in Instant Pot: place seasoned chicken breasts (I seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, garlic salt) in Instant Pot with 1/2 C broth. Use the "Poultry" setting (mine cooked for 15 minutes) and then do natural release for about 10-15 minutes. I follow these guidelines for Instant Pot chicken.

2. Shred or dice chicken and add to large bowl.

3. Mix in corn, beans, cheese, cilantro.

4. Then use the mixture either in tortillas for Quesadillas (I usually add a bit more cheese once I scoop the filling onto the tortilla) or nachos. For nachos, you'll also want to add more cheese. I cooked the nachos for about 12 minutes at 375.

Instant Pot Butter Chicken and Soy-Butter Broccoli

A post! After 2 long years! You may be asking, why now? Why this? In reality, it's most likely so I can procrastinate and take a break from working on a grant. However, some of the motivation stems from me realizing I can easily add photos from my phone, and even more of the motivation comes from my excitement about my new Instant Pot. Yes, I finally drank the Insta-Kool-Aid and it is good. In fact, this Instant Pot recipe was so good I wanted to share it with all 0 of my followers. This recipe is actually lifted from here. I followed it exactly, though I did use store bought Garam Masala. We served this over steamed rice and with a broccoli dish (recipe for that follows). 

Ingredients

-2 heads of broccoli, chopped

-4 T of butter

-2 T of soy sauce

Steps

-Place broccoli in a pan with 4 pats of butter. Cover with a lid and heat on med-high for about 5 minutes without stirring (this will allow some of the broccoli to char, which adds nice flavor). 

-After 5 minutes stir in 2 T of soy sauce. Remove from heat and serve.