Seaweed in your salad...this pasta salad will make a splash!
I have a friend who is having some problems with her thyroid is also having some difficulties with unavailability of care due to a lack of insurance. I can’t help with the insurance woes, but I do know that some thyroid problems can be controlled to a certain extent through an increase in your intake of ocean vegetables.Seaweed? Ick!
Actually, it’s pretty darned good, though salty…then again, would you expect it not to be salty? On the upside, though, they are extremely high in iodine, calcium, thiamine and niacin. All of those things are good for thyroid regulation; however this is not something you want to eat on a daily basis if you don’t have thyroid problems as it may be too much of a good thing.
The thyroid is a little butterfly shaped gland in the neck that regulates hormones. If it isn’t functioning properly, you’ll have trouble with everything from temperature regulation to mood swings. “If the thyroid ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy,” a doctor friend of mine used to say.
Though one might imagine that sea vegetables might be best suited as a side for seafood (“I’ll have the grilled fish with a side of Wakame – just for the halibut.”), there are some wonderfully tasty vegetarian options as well.
Wakame, by the way, is an edible seaweed that is commonly sold dried in health food and Asian markets. In addition to its traditional uses in oriental medicine for blood purification, hormonal regulation, intestinal strength, skin, hair, reproductive organs and menstrual regularity, new studies have found that a compound in wakame known as fucoxanthin can help burn fatty tissue.
Most people eat Wakame in a miso soup. I chose to make something a little heartier where the taste doesn’t get lost in a similarly-flavored broth.
Wakame Salad
2 bundles buckwheat noodles or any kind of whole wheat noodles
3 tablespoons dried Wakame
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 tablespoon of vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
Sesame seeds for sprinkling
· Pour Wakame into a cup and add some water. Soak for about 10 minutes until soft – almost the texture of cooked spinach.
· Cook the noodles according to the package instructions or until al dente. Drain and pour cold water (and ice, if you’d like) to stop the cooking process and to bring the temperature down to room temperature rapidly. Then leave the noodles to drain.
· Toast the sesame seeds by dry frying them on a frying pan (no oil, no water), until one or two start to pop. Toasted sesame seeds are so much more delicious than plain from the package.
· Mix vinegar, sugar and sesame oil in an air-tight container, cover and shake it like until the sugar dissolves.
· Put the noodles in a big salad bowl, drain the wakame and add it to the bowl and top with the celery. Pour dressing over it and sprinkle the salad with the toasted sesame seeds.
Vegan.
3 tablespoons dried Wakame
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 tablespoon of vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
Sesame seeds for sprinkling
· Pour Wakame into a cup and add some water. Soak for about 10 minutes until soft – almost the texture of cooked spinach.
· Cook the noodles according to the package instructions or until al dente. Drain and pour cold water (and ice, if you’d like) to stop the cooking process and to bring the temperature down to room temperature rapidly. Then leave the noodles to drain.
· Toast the sesame seeds by dry frying them on a frying pan (no oil, no water), until one or two start to pop. Toasted sesame seeds are so much more delicious than plain from the package.
· Mix vinegar, sugar and sesame oil in an air-tight container, cover and shake it like until the sugar dissolves.
· Put the noodles in a big salad bowl, drain the wakame and add it to the bowl and top with the celery. Pour dressing over it and sprinkle the salad with the toasted sesame seeds.
Vegan.
