Tomato basil ramen

I love ramen.  As a child, I ate it when sick.  I always just assumed that it was some funky noodle thing that was limited to those plastic packages.  Little did I realize that it was in fact a complete food genre unto itself!  I'm currently on the hunt for good ramen in Dallas, but until then, I occasionally make some myself.

I feel ramen gets a bad rap.  No, I don't recommend eating it every day, but I do think that as the occasional comfort food, it beats the Double Down.  It is also highly customizable-- in this case, I added an Italian twist and some veggies, turning it into an actual meal, dare I say it.

Ingredients:
1 pack ramen
1 pack of frozen veggies, your choice
.5 c Tomato-basil vinaigrette**

Method:
1)  Heat veggies in microwave while boiling water for ramen.
2)  Put ramen in bowl over veggies.  Add seasoning packet and pour boiling water over the ramen.  Cover and let sit 5 minutes.  This leaves a pretty firm noodle.  If you like yours a bit less al dente, boil the noodles in the water for 3 minutes before adding to the veggies.
3)  Before eating (I know you're not serving this, per se!), swirl in some tomato-basil vinaigrette.
**Recipe for this forthcoming.  I haven't tried to make it yet-- I purchase it from a local Italian joint.  Best I can tell, it's pureed canned tomatoes, basil, balsamic or red wine vinegar and a touch of olive oil.  Just a touch of oil, mind you, which makes this more a sauce than a dressing.