Stay Healthy with Nutrient-Rich Seaweed Salad

Until recently, seaweed has gotten a bum rap as being that stinky tangled mess that shows up on beaches. Even the name sea weed conjures images of unwanted vegetal matter that you spend your weekends meticulously plucking from your vegetable garden.

Like their land-based brethren, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties of sea plants, many of which are edible. Properly harvested and dried, they should not smell fishy in the slightest, having a supple, crunchy texture similar to certain types of mushrooms. Best of all, marine vegetables are sustainable and about as nutrient dense as food comes, loaded with fiber, vitamins and minerals such as iodine, magnesium and iron.

Ironically, the colorful sesame oil seasoned dish popularized by American sushi restaurants as seaweed salad is not very common in Japan. Instead, various sea vegetables such as kuki-wakame, hijiki, or mozuku are often served with land vegetables such as daikon and cucumber, and dressed with a light ponzu or a rice vinegar dressing.

I dont have anything against the popular salad that was probably inspired by Chinese jellyfish salad, but I do have a problem with the fact that most packaged salads are loaded with MSG, food coloring, and preservatives. Even sushi restaurants tend to buy it in tubs at Costco. Thats why Ive come up with my own version to share with you.

It has that familiar sweet and sour flavor redolent of toasted sesame with just a hint of ginger. I didnt have any chili peppers at home today, but if you like it spicy add some chili flakes, or mince up some fresh chili peppers and add them in.

While the recipe is super simple, you may have trouble finding the mixed dry seaweed. If youre in the US, you can order it online from Amazon, or you should be able to find it in any Japanese grocery store. If you have trouble finding it in your area, look for the more widely available wakame. It's not quite the same thing, but it has a nice texture and is good in salads.