" For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. " Song of Solomon

January 31, 2009

Sea Weed Salad

I was reaching for the coconut to pair with my oats and peanut butter when I spied the dried seaweed--also called fueru wakame-- on the shelf and I thought: aha--sea weed salad would be a good recipe to share on the blog. And in case you're thinking 'yuk' give this some consideration. It's good for you, inexpensive, easy to prepare and low in calories.

Once again there is no no recipe, but a method. If you're making the salad for one I'd use a scant 1/4 cup of the dried sea weed--it expands when it's soaked.

You begin by placing the dried sea weed in a dish and covering it with cold water. Let it stand 4-6 minutes or until rehydrated. Then, drain it. At this point it can be added to soups and salads. But if you want to make sea weed salad, you need to dress it.

The typical dressing is a mix of flavors. In a bowl I place some sugar--maybe a tablespoon-- and an equal amount of vinegar--rice wine vinegar is fine, though I often use cider vinegar. Stir to dissolve the sugar. It needs some fat, so I usually add a little toasted sesame oil--use this sparingly because it can overpower. If you feel like you want more oil, add any bland vegetable oil. Drizzle this mix onto the rehydrated sea weed and let it marinate. After about 15 minutes taste it and see if it needs salt--since the sea weed is salty it won't need much if any. I add either soy sauce or fish sauce. It's ready to eat when when it's absorbed the dressing.

I purchased my sea weed in a small local health food store. I imagine any international or oriental grocery would sell it as well . I have seen it in the regular grocery with the Asian foods.

The nutritional information on my package indicates 1/4 cup dry has 20 calories, no fat, 3 grams of fiber (wow!) and 1 gram of protein. It is salty though, with 730 mg of sodium. It also has small amounts of calcium and iron--2% each.
"....there have been many times when I have shed bitter tears, when if I had understood the situation better, I would have celebrated my good luck instead."

DISCLAIMER

I am not a doctor and all information, suggestions, etc are my personal opinion only.