Ramen With Slivered Peppers
While of course fresh ramen noodles are best, dried noodles will do just as well. Simply sliver red, yellow, and green bell peppers and sear them in a mixture of canola with a few drops of sesame oil. Boil and drain the noodles and toss them together with the pepper slivers. Season with shoyu (soy sauce) and wasabi. Garnish with slivered scallions or spring onions.

Bamboo Soup
Roughly chop a Vidalia or a sweet Peruvian onion and sweat it in the bottom of a non-stick soup pot. As soon as the onion becomes translucent season with a pinch of sea salt and then pour in hot vegetable stock. Put in a piece of lemongrass. Take a daikon radish and trim off the top, bottom and sides until it is squared off. Slice lengthwise along the top surface four or five times, turn it on its side and slice it again four or five times, and then turn it and cut into a dice. Add this to the soup pot. In the spring time fresh bamboo tips are readily available in Asia, and can probably be found in most Asian grocers in Western cities. However, tinned bamboo tips will do. Rinse the bamboo well and roughly chop it into bite sized pieces and add it to the soup. Season with chile oil, sea salt, fresh white pepper, fresh lemon juice, a splash of Sherry or Chinese cooking wine, minced galangal, and chopped fresh coriander. It is nice to add a touch of ground turmeric to the soup for some nice colour and the earthiness of the turmeric balances the other flavours well. Just before serving add a finely chopped roma tomato or two and remove the lemon grass. Garnish with a few springs of fresh cilantro.

Amaranth Salad
Amaranth leaves are heart shaped with a blaze of mauve, yellow, and black in the centre of a dark green. They make a fabulous salad vegetable. Clean the Amaranth well, removing the leaves from the thick stems. Arrange them in a salad bowl. Cube deep-fried tofu (you can probably find this pre-cooked and packaged in most Chinatowns or Asian grocers) and add these to the bowl. Add some minced galangal or ginger. Lace with grapeseeed oil, sesame oil, and fresh lime juice. Season with sea salt and fresh white pepper. If you have some fresh shelled peas, add them. If not, blanched soy beans would work just as well. Toss. Garnish with zest from the lime.

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