Cabbage “ramen” with chicken and soft-boiled egg (525 calories, 32 grams of protein)

250 grams cabbage (62 cal)

3.75 oz chicken thighs (234 cal)

1.5 soft-boiled eggs (105 cal)

40 grams soy sauce (27 cal)

15 grams green onion (5 cal)

15 grams Trader Joe’s crunchy chili oil (92 cal), you could substitute with sesame oil + chili flakes

I am the only person in my household who has to count calories (intermittently). My husband and our teenage sons can eat pretty much whatever they want. But we sit down for a family dinner every night, and I like to have my food at least resemble what everyone else is eating.

Yesterday was ramen. We cooked up chicken thighs (in a cast iron pan, so no extra oil) and soft-boiled eggs, and sliced up green onions. My husband and kids had some sort of ramen noodles + seasoning/sauce from HMart as the base.

I took a chunk of cabbage, sliced it in thin strips, and “steamed” it in the microwave (in a ceramic bowl, covered with a plate, with a couple of tablespoons of water — on high for 3 minutes). I improvised the broth from Trader Joe’s crunchy chili oil + soy sauce + boiling water (you could use less oil to shave off calories and less soy sauce if you don’t like your ramen as salty, and change up the proteins). I thought it was delicious and filling.

(The rest of my dinner was 200 grams of strawberries and 20 grams of chocolate for an additional 162 calories – the photo probably shows only half the strawberries, since I ate some while prepping everything else 🙂