Introducing seaweed into your daily diet really doesn't have to be difficult.
Obviously the easiest approach is to throw a couple of teaspoonsful into whatever you normally enjoy cooking and eating.
I like to start the day with Seaweed Pancakes.
Simply add a couple of teaspoons of Sea Lettuce Sprinkles to the pancake batter and leave to stand for as long as you can, given the pressures of the day.
I like filling mine with bananas cooked in butter and brown sugar, but I'm sure you have a favourite of your own.
I have found that the simplest and most delicious way to eat seaweed is to turn it into
Seaweed Crisps:
Snip the seaweed into 1 inch ( 2.5 cm) pieces.
( My favourite is dulse.)
Heat sunflower or olive oil in a heavy pan over a moderate heat.
When the oil is hot, throw in the pieces of seaweed and fry for a minute until they change colour.
Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
Eat almost immediately!
For those of you who would welcome some new ideas, here are some recipes adapted from the excellent 'Irish Seaweed Kitchen', by the delightful Prannie Rhatigan.
Starters, Light lunches and Snacks:
Smoked Mackerel Pate:
( I use Sea Lettuce Sprinkles or finely chopped dulse).
Serves 4
1 egg, hard boiled
55g (2oz) cream cheese
1 tsp horseradish sauce
1 lemon, juice and zest
1 teaspoon seaweed
1 large fillet smoked mackerel or
3 small fillets
For a smooth pate, use a blender or food processor, and for a coarse one, use a fork.
Mash the hard-boiled egg and cream cheese together .
Add the horseradish, lemon and seaweed.
Remove the skin and bones from the mackerel fillet and flake into the mixture.
Stir to combine.
Serve with fingers of toast or crackers.
Quick Hummus
Serves 4
2 x 14oz ( 400g) tins cannellini beans / chick peas/ butter beans
2 - 3 crushed garlic cloves
2 tbsps tahini
4 tbsps olive oil
juice of a lemon
1 tbsp seaweed ( I use Sea Lettuce or Sea Grass)
1 oz ( 25g) chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp parsley
Process all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Refrigerate.
Tortilla:
Serves 4
60ml olive oil
6 medium sized potatoes, sliced thinly
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium red onion, sliced
6 eggs, beaten
30g dulse, ( or smoked dulse), chopped finely
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a moderate heat and add the sliced potatoes.
Fry but do not brown.
When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the onions and dulse and fry until soft.
Add the eggs and cook until set. Turn over onto a plate and slide back into the frying pan, uncooked side down, and cook until lightly brown. Cut into wedges and serve with good bread and a green salad.
Seaweed and Porcini Risotto:
20g Sea Spaghetti, snipped into 1/2 inch ( 5mm) pieces
25g dried porcini
450ml ( 14 fl oz) lukewarm water
25g ( 1 oz) butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
250g ( 9oz) risotto rice
200 ml ( 7 fl oz) white wine
350ml ( 12 fl oz) chicken or vegetable stock, hot
2 cloves garlic
100g parmesan cheese, grated
parsley
Soak sea spaghetti in warm water for 15 minutes.
Soak porcini in cold water for 15 minutes.
Melt butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat, add the onion and cook until translucent.
Add all the rice and stir well to coat with the butter and onion mixture.
Add the wine and stir to evaporate it.
Add the sea spaghetti and mushrooms and soaking water to the stock (except the last of the mushroom soak water which may be gritty) and keep hot.
Add the stock to the rice mix a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly.
When nearly all the stock has been absorbed, add the garlic.
Be sure to include the mushrooms and sea spaghetti as you ladle the stock into the rice.
The risotto will take about 20 minutes to cook.
Remove from the heat and add the parmesan cheese and mix well.
Serve with a sprig of parsley.
Popeye's Gratin:
Serves 4-5
560g spinach , cooked, drained and chopped
1 egg, beaten,
325ml ( 11 fl oz) creme fraiche
1 can french onion soup mix
20g dulse, cut into small pieces
55g ( 2oz) breadcrumbs
115g ( 4oz) grated Cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 180c/ 350F/ Gas 4
Combine the egg and spinach in a bowl and stir in the creme fraiche and soup mix.
Pour into a casserole dish.
Mix the dulse with the breadcrumbs and Cheddar cheese and spread evenly over the spinach mix.
Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 40 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden and the cheese is bubbling.
Potatoes with Mustard Seeds and Dulse
1kg potatoes ( waxy preferred)
pinch sea salt
6 tbsps olive oil
bunch spring onions, chopped finely
2 tbsp mustard seeds
small bunch parsley, chopped
25g dulse, chopped roughly
Scrub or peel potatoes and chop into 2.5cm ( 1 inch) cubes.
Place in a pan and cover with water.
Bring to the boil, add a pinch of sea salt and cook gently for 15-20 minutes until firm but cooked.
Dry the pan, add olive oil.
Heat over moderate heat and add spring onoins and mustard seeds.
Stir until sizzling.
Lower the heat, add potatoes, tossing gently.
Add dulse and parsley.
Serve warm.
Apple, Celery and Carrot Salad.
Serves 4
Dressing:
1 tbsp Sea Lettuce or Sea Grass Sprinkles
300g ( 10oz) Greek yogurt
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
Salad:
3 sticks celery, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
6 small organic carrots, scrubbed and cut into rounds
6 small eating aples
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
25g ( 1oz) pine nuts, walnuts, or pumpkin seeds.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
Add the celery and carrots to the bowl.
Chop the apples and add to the salad bowl with the lemon juice to stop them discolouring.
Toss well to coat.
Add the nuts or seeds and serve.
Great with omelettes or fish.
Autumn Pumpkin with ginger and seaweed:
Serves 4
1 small or half a medium orange squash
2-3 tbsps olive oil and a knob of butter
2 cloves garlic
small toe of fresh ginger
75ml water
1 tablespoon seaweed (sea lettuce, sea grass, or dulse)
Cut the squash in half, then quarters and remove the pith and seeds.
Cut into 2.5cm ( 1 inch)pieces.
Heat olive oil and butter in a wide pan over a moderate heat.
Chop garlic and ginger finely and add to pan, then add squash.
Increase heat and toss to coat with oil and butter.
Cook for 1 minute.
Reduce heat.
Add water and seaweed.
Cover with a lid and cook for about 6 minutes.
Pierce squash with a fork.
If it pierces easily, the squash is cooked.
Remove from heat and stir gently.
Serve as a side dish with just about everything in the autumn!
Warm Puy Lentil and Goats Cheese Salad with Sugar Kelp
Serves 4
8oz ( 225g) Puy lentils
1 red onion, chopped
olive oil
1 bay leaf
thyme
4 inch piece Sugar Kelp, soaked for 15 minutes and chopped finely
1 pint (875ml) vegetable stock
Dressing:
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 level tsp mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp walnut oil
3 tbsp olive oil
85g ( 3oz) walnuts
1 tbsp Sea Lettuce or Sea Grass Sprinkles
1 large handful rocket leaves
115g ( 4oz) firm white goats cheese, crumbled
Rinse the lentils under cold running water, place in saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Drain and rinse well.
Set aside.
Saute onion in olive oil until soft.
Add par-cooked lentils, bay-leaf, thyme and sugar kelp and stir.
Pour in stock, cover and simmer for 40 minutes until cooked.
Drain any remaining liquid and keep warm.
To assemble salad:
In a large bowl, combine the garlic, mustard, lemon juice and oils.
Toss the hot lentils in the dressing.
Add half the walnuts, half the sea-lettuce and the rocket and toss well.
Sprinkle cheese over the top and toss again.
Scatter the remaining sea-lettuce and walnuts over the salad.
Serve warm.
Carragheen has been used in Ireland as a cure for coughs and colds for generations.
Here is a basic recipe for a delicious milk pudding which I ardently recommend as an immune-system booster and cold-buster.
Great for children who are prone to respiritory infections through the Winter, and they won't even know that they are eating seaweed!!
Carragheen Chocolate Pudding
Half-pint water
Handful of carragheen
Half-pint milk
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Or sweeten with honey to taste
Vanilla essence if you have some
Simmer the carragheen gently in the water for about 30 minutes until it is very gloopy.
Take care not to let it boil over.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the cocoa powder and sugar or honey, and vanilla if using, with a little milk to make a paste.
When the carragheen is ready, push it through a sieve into a bowl to extract all the gloopiness.
Make sure you keep scraping the bottom of the sieve to extract as much as possible.
Compost the seaweed.
Bring the milk to the boil and pour onto the cocoa mixture, stirring briskly.
Return to the pan and add all of the carragheen gloop, stirring very well to ensure thorough mixing.
Pour into little cups for individual puddings, or a pudding bowl for a family-sized cold-buster.
Allow to set, preferably in the fridge.
Get well soon!X
I also recommend simmering a large handful of carragheen in about a pint of water for about half an hour, pushing it through a sieve and saving all the wondrous gloop.
Keep it in the fridge and add a tablespoon or two to your usual smoothie recipe.
I make my daily health-booster with soya milk, whatever fruit I fancy, especially seasonal berries, and carragheen, whizzed up in the blender.
What a delicious way to keep the lurgies away!
