Savouring Sea Veggies?

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Savoring Sea Veggies?

 

" In the store where I often buy sushi, they sell a delicious seaweed salad. Is

seaweed comparable to greens in its nutritional value? Is it easy to find and

prepare at home? "

 

-- Garrett Deckel

 

(Published 03/18/2003)

 

 

Seaweed isn’t comparable to greens. It is much higher in sodium and is packed

with nutrients including vitamins A, C, E, B complex and B12 as well as calcium,

potassium and iron. Edible seaweeds – also known as sea vegetables – also

provide protein and fiber and even some omega-3 fatty acids.

 

We generally think of sea vegetables as Asian foods, but people in many parts of

the world have made them part of their diets. In the British Isles, laver, a

purplish-black, wild North Atlantic cousin to nori, is mixed with fat and rolled

oats and fried into a breakfast bread.

 

Here are some of the most popular and widely available sea vegetables:

 

Dulse: A red seaweed that grows attached to rocks in the North Atlantic and

Northwest Pacific. It has a soft, chewy flavor and can be eaten as a snack,

added to salads and soup.

 

 

Kelp: A light, brown seaweed that is related to Japanese kombu. Kelp can be

added to soup, stir fried or pan-fried for chips.

 

 

Alaria: Black or dark green, it is similar to wakame. Often used for miso

soup.

 

 

Sea Lettuce: These distinctively flavored greens are eaten raw but can be

added to soups or roasted.

 

 

 

You can often find dried seaweed in health food stores, fish markets or Asian

markets. Or you can order packages of dried sea vegetables on line from a number

of sources. Manufacturers recommend using small amounts of sea vegetables in

soups, salads, sandwiches and stir-fries and most websites provide recipes. I

suggest trying a DLT sandwich, a vegan alternative to the BLT. Instead of bacon,

use some dulse, briefly sautéed in olive oil. (You can even find smoked dulse on

some websites; it gives even better results).

 

I don’t recommend gathering your own or eating freshly harvested seaweed. There

have been occasional reports of outbreaks of gastrointestinal illnesses traced

to toxins found in seaweed.

 

Dr. Andrew Weil

 

 

 

 

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