Three Seaweed Salad

FOOD AS MEDICINE

We LOVE using sea vegetables for snacking like in these Roasted Almonds with Nori and Sesame, in a simple roll up like the ones featured in this blog on Supporting Bone Health and in salads like this oldie-but goodie Avocado Arame Salad. A lot of times though, seaweed can sit on the shelf unless specifically called for in a recipe and usually even then it is just a condiment. This Three Seaweed Salad uses three different types of dried seaweed (arame, hijiki and wakame) that is rehydrated and takes you beyond boring salads with its depth of flavor and great texture. Sea vegetables are incredibly mineral dense with 10-20x the mineral content as vegetables grown on land due to mineral deficiency of much of our soil. They are rich in iodine which supports thyroid function as well as calcium and iron. The mucilaginous properties of seaweed (aka their ability to “gel”) is supportive of gut lining integrity, detoxification and hormonal balance. Always look for wild and hand harvested sea vegetables and ensure they come from a reputable brand that performs testing for purity like Eden Brand or Maine Coast, both of which you can find on our Amazon Store! This recipe is a beautiful example of balancing flavor with real food, which we talked about on a recent podcast episode, tune in to learn why being married to a recipe is not ideal and how you can adjust seasoning to taste to create the perfect flavor combinations!

INGREDIENTS

1 2-oz package dried arame

1 oz dried wakame, cut into small pieces if necessary with kitchen scissors

1 oz dried hijiki

juice of 2 limes

2 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp Ocean’s Halo No Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos (can also use gluten free tamari if not sensitive to soy!)

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp Umeboshi Plum Vinegar

4 carrots, grated

4 green onions, finely chopped

2 Tbsp sesame seeds (black or white)

DIRECTIONS

Place the arame, wakame and hijiki in a large bowl and cover with filtered water. Allow to soak 10-15 minutes until softened. In the meantime, whisk together the lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce substitute, rice vinegar, and ume plum vinegar until combined. Once the seaweed is softened (it will grow in size quite a bit!), drain and rinse, then pat dry and place in the bowl with the dressing. Fold in the green onions and carrots and stir until combined, season to taste. Top with sesame seeds and serve over a bed of leafy greens if desired for volume with sliced avocado or as a side dish for salmon, sushi or tuna steak!