It’s no big secret that I’m a big fan of vegetables in the garlic and onion family, also known as Allium vegetables. I haven’t yet gone to the trouble of calculating, but Allium species ingredients may be in 95% of my recipes on this blog! Onions, garlic, scallions, shallots, chives–I love ’em all. One of my favorite bulbs that blooms in spring happens to be named Allium as well! Those flowers peaked weeks ago. The time for ramps has passed. Summer officially began last Saturday, and what do we have now? Garlic scapes. Those are the antennae in the goofy photo above.

I found an exciting way to use my scapes among Blue Apron’s weekly meal offerings. I like that they publish recipes on their website without requiring you to purchase the boxes, like I did recently. I’ll be honest, the recipe probably caught my eye because of the prominence of a slightly soft egg yolk in the picture. Also, it’s about time I join in on the country’s enthusiasm for ramen (though I refuse to make it with American cheese).


As a soup, you can really design this dish however you want. I chose to shop for a few items (mushrooms, peas, nori, and ramen noodles), and I had the rest ready to go.

Spring Vegetable Ramen
with Garlic Scapes, Shiitake Mushrooms and Egg
Adapted from Blue Apron

5 ounces fresh english peas, shelled
4 ounces sliced shiitake mushroom caps
2 eggs
2 garlic scapes, thinly sliced
2 scallion, white and green parts thinly sliced separately
1 1-Inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 lemon
1 sheet nori (dried seaweed)
4 Cups vegetable broth or stock
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
12 ounces ramen noodles
2 ounces arugula
Plenty of salt and pepper to taste, which will depend greatly on the seasoning in your broth

I thawed a chunk of homemade [chicken] broth I had stowed away in the freezer for something like this. You really can use any broth, but obviously you’ll need vegetable if you’re keeping it vegetarian.

Take out all your ingredients for preparation, including the eggs. The eggs should come to room temperature before cooking. I was particularly nervous about this step because when I attempted to make hard-boiled eggs last week, I followed Martha Stewart’s instructions here, and it was a major failure.

Set a pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil while you prep all of the vegetables.

Tip: you can use one prep bowl for your sliced garlic scapes, the whites of your scallions, and the minced ginger. The green parts of the scallions should have their own bowl. The shelled peas have their own bowl.

Remove some of the yellow rind of the lemon with a peeler. Avoid the white pith. Mince the rind finely. Measure 2 teaspoons and set aside. Quarter the lemon, remove its seeds, and set aside.

Make thin strips of nori with a knife or scissors (one of my favorite kitchen tools!).

Carefully add the room-temperature eggs to the boiling water and set a timer for exactly 7 minutes. Then drain and rinse under cold water for about a minute to prevent them from cooking further.

In the same pot in which you boiled the eggs, set some more salted water to boil (yay less dishes!).

In a second, larger pot, add about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and heat over medium heat.

Pour in the ingredients in your one bowl of scapes, green onion, and minced ginger. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for a minute or two until slightly softened.

Add the mushrooms and cook for about a minute more. Then pour in the vegetable broth, soy sauce, and lemon zest. Squeeze in the juice from two of the lemon wedges, to start.

Increase the heat to bring the broth to a boil. Then lower the heat so the mixture simmers; let it go for 8-10 minutes.

Moment of truth: while the broth simmers, peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise. (SUCCESS! Solid whites and slightly gooey yolk.)

Squeeze lemon juice over the arugula and toss. Add salt and pepper.

When the broth is about ready, stir in the peas, season with more salt and pepper, and remove from heat. Leave lid on to keep warm while you cook the noodles.

Add the noodles to your pot of boiling water, stirring to separate. Cook according to package directions. Drain rinse with warm water.

In two large bowls, divide the noodles.

Pour broth in bowls. Garnish with the dressed arugula, scallions greens, nori strips, and eggs. Add a bit more lemon juice if needed.

That’s what I’m talking about.