Sea Vegetables, Super Healers

Sea vegetables are superfoods, full of minerals, including iodine and iron, calcium, and vitamins. These treasures from the sea build strong blood and filter out toxins.

But they are not common food, although you may have had some nori with your sushi. So this is a new experience for most of us. I'll show you how to ease them into your diet!

The sea vegetables I cook with are wakame, nori, kombu, dulse, agar, arame and hiziki. Some can be found at a natural grocery store, or you can order them online. I get them in bulk online, its a better deal.

MInerals do great things. Here's the healing properties of sea vegetables:

--anti-fungal

--anti-inflammatory

--lowers blood cholesterol and blood pressure

--builds the blood with iron, a blood tonic

--helps soothe the intestines

--builds immunity

--helps with menopause, strengthens the adrenal glands

--aids in weight loss

--used in beauty treatments: for face mask, in baths

--helps build bone healthy (High in calcium and Vitamin D)

--strengthens the thyroid (high in iodine)

--strengthens the hair and nails

--reduces breast cancer and fibroids due to iodine content

--calms the nerves wwith all the calcium and magnesium

--contain algin, a compound that removes heavy metals and radioactive elements from the body

In the kitchen with sea vegetables

I have played with the sea vegetables kombu, nori, dulse, arame, hiziki, agar, and wakame in the kitchen.

So here is my experience with these wonders of the ocean.

KOMBU: This one is easy to use. Cut it into 1 inch pieces and add one or two pieces to a pot or beans, or add to soups and grains. Kombu takes a long time to dissolve, so if you have kombu in a soup, you can use it to flavor the soup and then remove the kombu, and save it for another use. Or cut it into small pieces and eat it. I like it but to the uninitiated, you may want to remove it from the soup.

Kombu sea vegetable is used often in Asian cooking. The sea vegie is cooked in water to create dashi, a kombu stock similar to the way we use bullion cubes. Kombu carries the flavor of other foods and tenderizes them. Kombu helps beans be more digestible, too.

Kombu is mucilaginous, which makes it a bit slimy. This property actually helps support your intestines. Kombu does not have a strong salty taste. It's the texture that is unusual. But in a pot of beans, you won't really taste it.

WAKAME: This sea vegetable builds the blood and bones and is a yin tonic, which helps us be calm and grounded. I soak it for about 10 minutes, cut out the hard frond, and add it to a saute with onions and carrots. It is somewhat salty, so you won't need to add salt. Wakame can also be soaked and added to salad. A popular salad is wakame, cucumber and oranges. Wakame is like lettuce from the sea. You can add it to beans, salads, soups and grains.

NORI: This vegie comes in sheets. You can eat it straight from the bag, or you can crumble up the nori sheet and add it to salad, trail mix, or cut into slivers with kitchen scissors and use it as a condiment. Or wrap it around seasoned rice with avocado, sushi style.

DULSE: You can eat dulse straight from the bag, but it is quite salty. It's high in iron and protein. I have seen it used in recipes with oranges; this would balance out its salty flavor. Crumble dulse and add to salads or baked potato. Some cooks saute it in a little oil and use it as a bacon substitute, and create a "DLT" dulse, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

ARAME: This sea vegetable looks like black noodles. It needs to be rehydrated, and can be added to vegetable sautes and stir fry. I don't cook often with arame, but Christina Pirello, a vegan chef, says arame does not need to be soaked. It is partially cooked before drying, so it tenderizes easily. Simply rinse arame and set it aside to reconstitute. Then marinate it, or cook it for about 20 minutes, along with other vegetables. It is good sauteed with sweet corn and onions.

HIZIKI This is like arame, only thicker. Hiziki is strong tasting and needs cooking for about 30 minutes to tame it. I have used it in a salad with oranges, cucumbers, noodles and a strong dressing of maple syrup, toasted sesame oil and rice vinegar. Hiziki needs strong flavors to balance it. Maple syrup and toasted sesame oil will do that.

AGAR: These tan flakes are tasteless. Agar create a gel, so you can make natural puddings, sometimes called kanten desserts. You cook it into fruit juice until it dissolves, add in almond butter and fruit, like raspberries or blueberries. Then let it set for 30 minutes or so and it turns into natural jell-o.

You can order sea vegies on line at Gold Mine Natural Foods Company.

Sea Vegetable Recipes

Be adventurous and try some sea vegetable recipes.

Arame Corn Salad

1 cup arame, washed, drained and simmered 10 minutes

1 cup corn, steamed 1 minutes

1 cup green peas, steamed 1 minute

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients with the following dressing:

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice, fresh

1 tsp maple syrup

pinch of sea salt

pinch of dry ginger powder

Mix, adjust flavors and serve.

Wakame Carrot Dish

1 cup wakame

1/2 onion, chopped

2 carrots, cut diagonally

olive oil

pinch cayenne or ginger

Directions

soak wakame until softened, then drain. chop into bits size pieces and remove any hard fronds. Saute onion in oil for about 2 minutes, until onion is softened. Add wakame and carrots and 1/4 cup water. Turn to low, cover the pot and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Add in cayenne or ginger for some heat.

Serve with lemon or vinegar.

Agar Berry Jello

3 cups apple juice or other fruit juice

3 Tbsp agar flakes

pinch sea salt

1 Tbsp almond butter

1/2 tsp allspice or cinnamon

1-2 cups blueberries or other berries

Directions:

Combine juice, salt, and agar in saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. IF you boil too quickly, agar may not dissolve. simmer for 10-15 minutes, stir occasionally, until agar dissolves. Add in almond butter and cinnamon or allspice or both. Arrange berries in bowls or dish, Pour juice mix over fruit. Allow to stand 30 minutes, then refrigerate.

Wakame Sesame Condiment

This is a variation on gomasio, a Japanese condiment.

1 cup dried wakame

Toasted sesame seeds, 1/4 cup

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 and add dried wakame on a baking sheet. Let it toast 15 minutes or until it is crisp. Meanwhile, toast the sesame seeds lightly in a skillet over low heat on the stove. Stir often. When wakame is crisp, place in a suribachi* and grind it up. Add in toasted sesame seeds and grind up with wakame. Serve as a condiment.

* A suribachi is a Japanese mortal and pestle. It has grooved sides that make grinding seeds easy. You can order a suribachi from Mountain Rose Herbs, or use a mortal and pestle or a spice grinder.

Food for Thought:

"It's time to stop allowing labs and calculations, lobby groups and advertisers to trump the influence of the sun, earth, wind and water"

--Vegan chef Christina Pirello

Return from sea vegetables to healthy-foods-lifestyle

Here's some wakame and agar recipes