Sexy Sea Vegetable Salad
Image Source: Sonnet Lauberth
Sea vegetables such as seaweed are a great way to add more variety and nutrition to a plant-based diet. We tend to think of greens such as spinach, kale and silverbeet to add to meals but often forget about these underwater champions of the plant world. For anyone who is put off by the oceanic smell of seaweed, fear not! The seaweed is cooked in apple juice, giving it a pleasantly sweet rather than oceany flavour. Combined with greens, coloured veggies, and other herbs, this salad just ends up tasting really fresh and healthy – in a good way! Perfect for the warmer months.
But why sexy? Well, psychology has noted that when we add appealing names to foods or dishes they seem more attractive to our senses and we are more likely to eat them. You may apply this principle to be inspired to eat more vegetables or fruit.
So since seaweed is often shunned or pictured with less desirable characteristics such as slimy or salty I thought I would help set the record straight in your brain. By describing this salad as ‘sexy’ it adds extra appeal and helps you to establish new more positive associations with sea vegetables. Feel free to also describe sea vegetables as: seductive, saucy, scrumptious, salubrious, satisfying, sensational, sensuous, super, sweet, sparkling…you get the gist!
Seaweed is rich in B vitamins, iron, iodine and omega 3 plus some calcium. All of which require a bit of planning to get from a plant-based diet.
1/2 cup (60g) of dried seaweed (depending on variety) contains roughly:
|
Nutrient |
Recommended Daily Intake | Amount |
| Iodine | 238% | 356mcg |
| Riboflavin B2 | 54% | 0.7mg |
| Iron | 68% | 5mg |
| Niacin B3 | 28% | 4.5mg |
| Thiamin B1 | 34% | 0.41mg |
| Omega 3 | 13% | 0.17mg |
| Vit E | 10% | 1mg |
| Magnesium | 9% | 37mg |
| Calcium | 3% | 23mg |
| Zinc | 3% | 0.4mg |
| Fibre | 2% | 1g |
Sexy Sea Vegetable Salad Ingredients
Recipe adapted from In Sonnet’s Kitchen
Serves:Â 4 to 6 (or 2 hungry vegans hehe)
- About 50 grams (1 bag) arame sea vegetable  or wakame sea vegetables soaked in cold water for 15 – 20 minutes
- 1½ cups fresh 100% apple juice
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 Tablespoons tamari
- 3 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 Tablespoons minced ginger
- 1 bunch of greens (kale, spinach, silverbeet or cabbage), stems removed, finely shredded
- Juice from 1 lime
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 1 red capsicum, chopped
- 1 cup cooked black-eyed peas (optional)
- 3 shallots, diagonally sliced
- ½ cup fresh herbs (parsley, coriander or basil) chopped
- Optional extras: 1 tsp olive oil or 1/4 cup avocado
Image Source: Sonnet Lauberth
Method
- Soak seaweed in cold water for 15 – 20 minutes. Rinse and strain.
- In a non-stick pan, sauté the seaweed in a little but of water or stock for about 5 minutes. Add the apple juice and let it simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Remove lid and sauté until liquid has evaporated. Add the maple syrup, tamari, garlic, and ginger. Saute until liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
- Massage greens with lemon juice (and optional oil or avocado). Mix with carrots, bell pepper, black-eyed peas, onions, and herbs in a large bowl.
- Mix seaweed and salad mixture together just before serving.
Image source Lawton/SoFood/Corbis
Top Tips
Here are a few tips from Sonnet and myself:
- Â “If you are saving this recipe to serve later, keep the arame separate from the other ingredients so that the greens stay fresh”-Sonnet
- Black-eyed peas are optional here, but they definitely make this more satisfying and filling as a meal. You can add different beans of choice too such as butter beans or chickpeas-Amber
- “This salad is perfect as a light lunch or dinner.  Not only will it leave you satisfied and full of important vitamins and minerals, but it will give you full bragging rights that you not only ate seaweed and survived… but you actually enjoyed it!”Sonnet
- Optional extra is to serve this salad with grains such as quinoa-Amber
