Butterfly Pea Glass Noodle Salad

Butterfly pea flowers always make me think of Thailand.

Known in Thai as dok anchan, butterfly pea has been part of Thai food and traditional life for generations. The vivid blue flowers are used to naturally color drinks, sweets and rice, turning everything from blue to deep violet. Add a squeeze of lime and the blue shifts to purple, almost like a little bit of kitchen magic.

I love that the flower isn't simply used as decoration. It is an ingredient, a natural dye and a familiar part of Thai culinary tradition.

Colorful food makes me happy as do simple recipes that call for conversation. In this quick-to-prepare dish, butterfly pea flowers add the most beautiful dash of color to glass noodles. The addition of acid from the vinegar will turn the butterfly pea in the noodles from blue to purple, giving this dish a fun magical element. This is a simple noodle dish that can be used as a side dish. Alternatively, feel free to add tofu, shrimp or chicken slices and veggies like shitake mushrooms, snow peas, or, yellow peppers, and carrots to turn the dish into a meal. I like to choose ingredients that complement the beautiful color display.

Adapted from a recipe in my book "Feasting on Flowers."

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 servings (approx 8 ounces) dried sweet mung bean vermicelli
• Boiling water
• 1 Teaspoon butterfly pea flower powder or ¼ cup dried flowers
• 2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mirin or honey
• ¼ teaspoon wasabi
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• Light soy sauce (optional and to taste drizzled over)
• Edible flowers or herbs for garnish (garlic flowers and blue and purple-toned edible petals pictured)
• Additional protein of choice & veggies (optional)

Place the vermicelli in a bowl and cover with boiling water and butterfly pea flowers or powder. Allow to soak until noodles are completely soft and are a deep blue color.

In a separate bowl whisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey, and wasabi. Taste and adjust flavors as needed. Drain noodles and add to the bowl with dressing and mix. Noodles will turn from blue to purple, reacting to the acid from the vinegar. If you want to serve the noodles hot, stir-fry for a few minutes. Otherwise, plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds, and a light drizzle of light soy sauce (careful with the soy sauce as it will darken the lovely purple hue). Add any additional ingredients desired and garnish with edible flowers or herbs. Garlic blossoms add a lovely garlicky taste to the dish.