Avocado-Seaweed Salad…"Arame Style"

Who eats enough minerals?…..I mean, I don't even know if that's possible. Anyway I'm always on the lookout for more. Truth be told, while I love miso soup (here's a recipe, if you'd like to make some) and nori rolls, and eat dulse regularly, I don't really eat any of the other seaweeds much. Even so, every now and then, I have my moments when I'm inspired to reach for a different kind and here's the result of one of those moments documented…

With fresh spring onions and crisp Persian cucumbers added….mmmm…what's there not to like!?

Arame Salad

Ingredients:

avocado
cucumber
red radishes

arame
green onions / spring onions

For the dressing

rice vinegar / umeboshi plum vinegar

sesame oil / tahini
water

black sesame seeds
chili flakes
salt, if desired

Why Eat Arame?

Seaweeds, in general, are a nutritional powerhouse. They are very rich in minerals (calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc), are the greatest sources of iodine, have incredible healing properties, and are alkalizing foods. They have cancer-fighting properties, especially when it comes to "estrogen-induced" cancers, such as breast cancer, for example…..And, as if that wasn't impressive enough, they're anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, full of antioxidants, and are a wonderful food group to make friends with if you want beautiful skin!

Arame is rich in vanadium, a trace mineral that is important for supporting the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates and regulate blood sugar levels. Other great sources of vanadium in the raw foods kingdom are dulse, cinnamon, and cacao.

Preparation

1. Soak the arame in water for at least 10 minutes and up to half an hour (Save the soaking water for soups or to give it to your plants! It's very rich in nutrients, especially minerals.)

2. Make the dressing by mixing equal amounts of oil / tahini and vinegar and adding some water if necessary to "thin it" to achieve the desired strength. Add salt and chili flakes if you prefer and mix in some sesame seeds. Put it aside.

3. Slice the onions thinly and put them aside to "breathe".

3. In the meantime, slice / chop up the rest of your vegetables and place them in a bowl.

4. Cut the avocado in halves, remove the pit and score them lengthwise and crosswise so that you end up with little cubes, then, using a large spoon, scoop out the fruit and add it to the veggies.

5. Drain the arame and toss everything in a bowl with the dressing. Serve on plates and sprinkle with more sesame seeds.

Remineralized.

♥

California Rawlls

For seven years I made and delivered california rolls to a health food co-op. They were made with rice and tofu though. I hardly ever ate them myself, probably because I already had to make them constantly and didn't feel like preparing any for home.
Well, I had to come up with raw versions because they're so delicious and quick to make. This literally takes a couple of minutes as long as you have soaked nuts and have practiced the rolling itself. True, rolling up a pile that's about to fall apart can take some time to figure out but once you got it it's routine. Make it into a Japanese themed lunch by serving soy sauce/shoyu sauce and wasabi (Japanese horse radish you can find in a powder form and make a paste out of by adding water to it) on the side along with a bowl of miso soup.

Savory Nori Rolls
(For 2 rolls)
2 nori sheet
1 cup soaked almonds or other nuts ground for nut "rice"*
1/2 avocado, sliced
1 small carrot, shaven/shredded/julienned
2 green onions, split lengthwise
a handful of sunflower/alfalfa/other sprouts
little bit of shredded horseradish
1 small cucumber, sliced lengthwise
umeboshi plum paste**
forkful of sauerkraut per roll
anything else you like...

* Nut rice: You may grind up your soaked nuts with garlic, salt and herbs added to further enhance flavors. I used a mixture of almonds and brazil nuts, added a bit of hemp seeds, salt and garlic and ground them coarsely the size of half a grain of rice. Adding a few drops of water to the ground nuts and mixing helps them stick somewhat.

** Use the paste sparingly as it's quite high in salt.


Directions:
Have a very sharp knife and a small bowl/cup of water ready to wet your fingers and the knife as necessary.
1. Lay out the nori sheets and spread a little umeboshi plum paste on half the area of each to help the nut "rice" stick better.
2. Take half of the nut "rice" and pack it down firmly and evenly with the back of a spoon.
3. Layer the vegetable shreds/slices you're using and top them with some sauerkraut and sprouts. Ready to roll?

4. Dip your fingers in water and dampen the upper 1-inch edge of a sheet and carefully lifting the other edge while holding down your pile of ingredients, start rolling it as tightly as you can manage. The wet end will serve as a seal. Make sure to press that edge against the other surface. Put this roll aside and repeat the roll-up procedure with the other.
5. Wet your sharpest kitchen knife and either slice the rolls into about 1-inch thick bites or cut them in halves diagonally.
6. If you'd like a dip, mix some soy/shoyu sauce with some wasabi. The wasabi paste is easily made by mixing some powder with a touch of water. For miso soup, look here.

Voilà, lunch is served. Enjoy!

Miso Soup Got Spiced Up

Maitake mushroom

We’ve had a few evenings on the chilly side lately and nothing feels better after a long day at school (or work) than sitting down with a huge bowl of miso soup and enjoying every spoonful of it. For the last 6 or 7 years I started every single day with a cup of miso but since I don’t do that anymore it is a special treat to have once in a while.

Miso soup is very well known in Asian communities and is consumed on a daily bases. While, in Japan, its history goes back centuries, it wasn’t until the 1960’s that this nurturing soybean paste was introduced in Europe, and later in the United States, as a main component of a new, cancer-prevention diet. With the macrobiotic movement spreading so rapidly, so did the availability of miso in health food stores. In macrobiotics, we refer to it as the “poor people’s health insurance”!!!

What is miso?
Miso is a fermented paste, traditionally made of soybeans, rice, sea salt, and koji, or some kind of a starter. Nowadays you can easily find soy-free versions as well. The fermentation time will affect the color, the texture and the flavor. In general, the longer it was fermented, the darker the color and the stronger the flavor. If you’ve never tried it, you will probably want to start with a “light” miso, which will be a lighter color and will taste very sweet. The stronger versions will be much more on the salty side. They are the ones that were aged for 1 to 3 years and appear darker brown in color.

One-year, light, brown rice miso paste

What’s in it for me?
Besides its flavor and versatility (it can also be used in salad dressings, spreads, marinades, as a flavoring, etc.), miso offers many health benefits, which is what gets me excited the most!
To mention just a few, it
•    restores beneficial microflora in the intestines
•    helps reduce the risk of many types of cancer
•    contains alkaloids that chelate heavy metals
•    is high in vitamin K, vitamin B2, and vitamin B6
•    is rich in minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, and iron
•    helps digestion
•    is a very good source of complete protein….good news for vegans! : )
…and there are many more!

Ready to test it?

Miso Soup
Ingredients:
(Serves 1-2)
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp or 1 in piece wakame
2-3 shiitake or maitake mushrooms*
red chili pepper flakes (optional)
2 tbsp miso paste
green onions to garnish

*Shitakes are sold fresh or dried (in whole or sliced). If you’re using the dried version, you can rehydrate them by soaking them in water for a few minutes. If they’re sliced, you can use a handful in the soup right away, soaking is unnecessary. I prefer using fresh Maitake. They're sold as fresh, whole heads in health food stores.

Dried shiitake mushrooms and miso

Directions:
Put the water, the wakame, the mushrooms, and the chili flakes (if you are using any) into a small pot and warm it (if you eat raw) or get it hot but do not boil it. Let the vegetables simmer for a few minutes. While you’re waiting, take a little bit of the warm water out and mix it with the miso until you get a very smooth paste.  You can do this in one of the serving bowls. Pour this paste back into the pot and let it simmer for a minute on very low heat and make sure you do not boil it! (You can even turn off the flame at this point and just leave the soup sit on the stove top for a minute.) It is very important to watch it because if you boil miso you will kill the enzymes and will miss out on the health benefits. Give it a stir and pour into serving bowls. Garnish with green onions. Enjoy!

More options:
You can start with just making a broth and skipping all the vegetables or try it with just the wakame.
If you eat tofu, you can add a couple of half inch slices cubed up.
Some people add soy sauce or shoyu.
Also, you can add any of your favorite vegetables cut into small pieces. I like to add daikon radish and, because of the color, thinly sliced carrots are a nice addition too.

Seaweed Salad

I know, I know…. Some of my readers will leave this page right now. Hopefully not you though! But weeds? And from the sea? Yes, you read it right! Now, don’t freak out….obviously, there’s a reason I’m bringing them to your attention. And the reason is: seaweeds are ancient superfoods that are loaded with nutrition! In fact, the phytonutrients present in them are so concentrated that you only need to eat a small amount to get their health benefits.

If you’re lucky enough to have grown up right by the beach where you could smell the ocean all the time, then you probably won’t even notice anything, but I didn’t, and I don’t think I tried any seaweed until I was about twenty years old. Their taste and texture are definitely something to get used to…..a very distinct and somewhat fishy flavor that, I’m sure, seems stronger than it is if you’re a vegan : ). The good news is that there are ways to prepare them to end up with quite palatable meals or snacks in no time.

Why seaweeds rock?
Nori, wakame, kombu, dulse, arame, Irish moss…all plants of the sea are multicellular algae.  Some are green, others are brown, or red, or even translucent. What they all have in common, besides growing in seawater, is that they’re all very nutritious, that is, very high in iodine (excellent for thyroid health), minerals, protein, and lignans, the plant compounds with cancer-protective properties. Let’s start with nori, the one you have probably tried if you’ve ever gone out for sushi. It’s available as raw or toasted thin sheets that you can wrap things in….how fun! Raw, they appear nearly black, or a very dark green, but once they’re toasted, they are a brighter green in color. Nori is rich in iron, potassium, magnesium, vitamin A, C, B2, and of course, iodine. It’s also a good source of protein. Wakame is another one you might have encountered since it’s most commonly used in miso soup that is also served in Japanese restaurants. Ever wondered what those green, sweet tasting slimy things were floating in the soup? They are them. Wakame is high in B vitamins and essential fatty acids, which means it’s very good for your skin. Kombu, a brownish-green sea vegetable, is used to treat thyroid conditions and is very rich in minerals and folate. I used to add a small piece to beans. (If you cook beans, put a 1-2 inch piece on the bottom of the pot then layer onions, vegetables (if using any) and the beans on top. Leave the kombu in there. This will help with the digestion of any kind of beans.) Dulse has a beautiful deep rosy-purple color and is also commonly added to soups or, in a powder form, used as a thickening agent. It’s exceptionally high in iron, magnesium, beta carotene, and protein! Arame is a mild tasting sea vegetable that can be added to salads and almost anything else you wish to try it with. The dark brownish strands are rich in calcium, iron, zinc, manganese, folate, and vitamins A, and K. Irish moss is most commonly used to thicken foods, especially desserts. It’s yellowish brown and is rich in vitamin A, minerals and protein but especially rich in sulfur, which means it’s good for decalcification!

Where to get some?
Unless you live on the coastline somewhere where it’s very clean and you can harvest it yourself , you’ll have to look for them in a health food store or an Asian market. Most health food stores will either carry a variety of dried seaweeds in bulk or ready-to-use seaweed salad mixes that are kept hydrated and in salt in a plastic : ( bag, the kind I used for this recipe.  All Asian stores/markets have an incredible selection of dried seaweeds available and some of them even sell them fresh, by the pound!

Seaweed Salad
Ingredients:
(Serves 2)
1 (6 oz.) package seaweed mix
1 green onion
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp of your favorite sweetener (optional)
½ tsp red chili flakes
soy sauce or shoyu*

*If you buy the moist version that is sitting in salt then you’ll find that it’s not necessary. Even after rinsing or soaking the seaweed it will be salty enough.

Preparations:
Rinse the seaweed and if you have time, let it soak for a while. Soaking is obviously a must if you’re using dried seaweed. They need to be rehydrated before you can make a salad. Put the draind seaweed in a mixing bowl. In a separate dish, mix the oil and the vinegar and the soy sauce and sweetener (if you choose to use them). Pour the dressing over the seaweed and mix well. Add some sesame seeds and chili flakes and top with sliced green onion. Eat!
This salad keeps really well and is an easy way to take something nutritious with you to work the next day, if you have any leftovers.

Featured in Funky Raw, UK's raw food magazine