crunchy bits

This flavorful salad is so simple to make and slurpingly satisfying. Kevin and Anne Marie Gianni of Renegade Health made this recipe which is adapted from Donna Gates’ The Body Ecology Diet. Arame is a mild tasting seaweed. It is a good source of iron, calcium, zinc and iodine. Seaweed, as you may suspect, is very high in sodium.

Cucumber Arame Salad

• 1.5 oz arame
• 4 cucumbers, peeled and sliced very thin
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 TBS unrefined oil
• pinch pepper

1. Soak arame for 15 minutes in enough water to cover.
2. Sprinkle sea salt on cucumbers and let set for several minutes to release juices.
3. Discard soaking water and chop arame.
4. Mix cucumbers, arame and all other ingredients, and toss.

I will often halve  this recipe and it makes plenty. I usually leave out the black pepper and I do not chop the arame. I leave it in longer strands. I add nutritional yeast about 1 tsp. at a time and stir until it is thickened slightly. In total, I use about 2 TBS. It adds a great flavor! My hubby loves this one and so does my almost 10 year old. My 5 year old would like it with less arame, some sweetener and no red onion. Me, ooooo, it is a favorite!

Sioux adds — I too cut this in half, but my kids like it so much that I might just try not doing so next time. I do chop the arame, I use sesame oil, and I add a tablespoon or so of honey and nutritional yeast, as well as sesame seeds (black if I have them, they look pretty). My entire family loves this recipe, and the kids actually cheer when I say its on the menu. I started introducing this recipe with less arame than called for, but have slowly increased it now that everyone is familiar with it. The taste of the arame is pretty mild, actually, and it didn’t take us too long to get up to the full amount.