sea, i told you so.

from sea to shining sea. today i returned to the west coast and my new home of berkeley after a few days on the east coast. much to the dismay of my weary traveling self (i flew out of boston at 6am this morning, which meant hanging out at the airport after the last movie in town got out at 2am), the berkeley bowl was closed today because of the holiday. so new adventures in fresh produce will have to sit tight and wait another turn in a day or so. instead of adventures in new culinary frontiers, my weary, not overly hungry self decided to turn to quick easy out of the pantry cupboard but healthy as humanly possible tonight. yes, that translates to seaweed.

i love seaweed. from the nori that wraps sushi rolls to the kombu that is the basis for the broth of miso soup (and a ton of other soups) to arame, wakame and hijiki. i can't get enough. i like things that are salty or tangy. and seaweed fits both those criteria. there are many types of seaweed. and many methods to prepare them. but they are all unbelievably healthy. in fact, seaweed has been called the most nutritionally complete food that there is. i will get into more detail on that later. first, dinner.

seaweed is simple. most often it comes dried and only requires soaking in water for a minimum of 15 minutes to revitalize it. you could stop right there, drain it and use it as is. alone. in a soup. on a salad. or add it to any other dish that would be complemented by seaweed. tonight i *recreated* (and by recreate i do mean improvise based on recollection) one of my favorite sea vegetable preparations - that of angelica kitchen in my old neighborhood of the east village in manhattan. angelica kitchen essentially soaks and then simmers hijiki and arame in a combination of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar with onion and carrot. i have only glanced at the recipe and would not dare to betray their copyright (if you need their exact recipe, by all means please go buy their cookbook, it would be a terrific addition to anyone's cookbook collection), but that is the gist of it. and when it comes to rice wine vinegar and soy sauce, i definitely measure via eyeball and to taste.

basic simple sea vegetables

1/3 cup arame

1/3 cup hijiki

1/4 cup carrot, sliced thinly (matchsticks)

1/4 cup onion, sliced thinly

organic tamari reduced sodium gluten free soy sauce (to taste, i used ~1/3 cup)

organic rice wine vinegar (again, to taste, i used ~1/3 cup)

in a bowl, soak arame & hijiki in cool water for 15 minutes. drain most of the liquid.
in a saucepan, simmer onion & carrot in 1/2" of water for 5 minutes. drain the water from the pan.
add the drained arame & hijiki, along with remaining liquid to onion & carrot in the saucpan.
add the soy sauce & vinegar (and a touch of sea salt if you so desire).
bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat and allow to simmer on low for at least 15 minutes. drain any excess liquid.

you may serve these right away hot or you may store them for later use. they are great on salads or with rice or grains.

**i do need to take a moment to lay down the disclaimer that hijiki can be difficult to find. most grocery stores will have at least some seaweed, usually nori for sushi rolling and some combination of arame, wakame or kombu. in new york, when i did stumble upon hijiki, which is by far my favorite seaweed, it was astronomically expensive (read anywhere from $8-12 per package was the price range i often saw). well, just when i thought the bay area couldn't make me any happier, anna and i went to a supermarket in japantown, where i found hijiki for $1.99. ONE DOLLAR AND NINETY NINE CENTS. i don't say that to brag about my good fortune, but, rather, to advise that you try to find a real japanese market if you can and look for hijiki there. you might actually be able to afford it.**

okay, so what's so special about seaweed? pretty much everything since *sea vegetables* possess the broadest range of minerals of any food. every mineral in the ocean is absorbed by seaweed. it contains all of the essential minerals for the function of the human body: potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, iron, iodine and zinc. it also contains trace elements that are not commonly found in other foods. the same is true for vitamins. seaweed is loaded with vitamin c, beta-carotene (vitamin a), vitamin b1, b2, b6, niacin, pantothenic acid, folic acid, and, most impressively, trace amounts of vitamin b12, which almost never exists in land vegetables.

i know, you are thinking wow these sea vegetables seem more special than a double rainbow, but, WHAT DOES IT MEAN? well, i'll tell you and i'll do it without a youtube video, without auto-tune, and without selling out to microsoft. read on.

seaweed removes toxins from the body, aids in digestion, metabolism and thyroid function, boosts the immune system, nourishes the brain, fights heart disease, promotes healthy hair, and has cancer fighting and preventative properties.

all of the sea vegetables i've discussed in this post are classified as brown algae. these plants can detoxify the body. in nerd speak, they are high in alginic acid and bind with any heavy metals in the intestines. this leaves those heavy metals indigestible and they are eliminated from the body.

the minerals found in sea vegetables, like arame, are thought to promote healthy hair and hair growth.

seaweed contains lignans, which are phytonutrients that have been shown to help prevent or slow cancer growth. they do this in two major ways. first, by inhibiting angiogenesis (blood cell growth) and, therefore, the process through which fast-growing tumors send out cells to metastasise in other areas of the body. and secondly, by inhibiting estrogen synthesis in fat cells and, therefore, cutting the risk of breast cancer, particularly in post-menopausal women who synthesize estrogen in fat cells. seaweed also contains folic acid and connections have been made between diets high in folic acid and a decreased risk and occurrence of colon cancer.

sea vegetables are the richest natural source of iodine, a mineral that is essential to human life. the thyroid gland adds iodine to the amino acid tyrosine to create the thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine. the body cannot synthesize these hormones, which regulate metabolism in every cell of the human body and, therefore, play a role in all physiological functions, without sufficient iodine.

the folic acid in seaweed prevents a number of birth defects, including spina bifida.

seaweed is good for the heart and cardiovascular system because of its folic acid and magnesium content. folic acid is required to break down homocysteine, which is a dangerous intermediate chemical produced during the methylation cycle (*long story short, one of the most important cellular cycles in the human body, one which produces a wide variety of chemicals that the body needs to function and carry out other cellular functions) that has the ability to damange blood vessel walls and in high levels is associated with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. seaweed is an excellent source of magnesium, which is known to reduce high blood pressure and prevent heart attacks.

whoa sally sells sea shells down by the sea shore, that's a lot. and that's not even all of it, or even an adequate exploration and explanation of all of it. but, it's more than enough to make the point that seaweed is good and, if you haven't already done so, i highly recommend that you go explore the wonderful world of sea vegetables. they couldn't be simpler to prepare and they couldn't be healthier for you. it's a win win.