Seaweed Cooking
Have some sea vegetables and don’t know where to start?
Cooking with seaweed is fun. Making your favorite recipes more nutritious is rewarding and not difficult at all. Initially, I would recommend getting a couple of different types of seaweed, sea spaghetti (himanthalia elongata) is a great starter sea veg for the uninitiated, and a milled or ground seaweed is versatile. When planning your menu keep in mind that seaweed and can be added to all kinds of dishes from sweet to savory. No matter what your favorite family recipes are, there is almost certainly a seaweed that will enhance and that dish. Seaweeds are available online or in any large supermarket.
A great way to start is adding it to your bread dough. No matter what kind of bread you make, the addition of a little ground or milled seaweed makes it much healthier and you will find it lasts longer too! Seaweed is a natural preservative and the sodium contained in seaweeds is the healthy kind. So next time you make pizza, add some to your dough and enjoy the natural goodness of this plant and all the health benefits that go along with it.
There is an increasing awareness in the western world at the moment of the amazing health benefits of seaweed. Jamie Oliver claims to have lost weight due to the inclusion of seaweed in his diet. And in fact seaweed is a natural source of sodium alginate, a chemical that can reduce fat intake by 75%! If you decide to cover your sea spaghetti in a rich creamy sauce or simply top with olive oil and herbs, it’s up to you but either way it is delicious.
- 12 leaves fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice/cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp honey (or sweeten to taste)
- 25 g dried sea spaghetti (re-hydrated and cooked )
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
- Mix first 6 ingredients together in a bowl to make dressing.
- Roughly chop sea spaghetti and add to dressing.
- Marinade for at least an hour in refrigerator.
- Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.
- You could just soak sea spaghetti in water to re-hydrate and use raw. I personally like it raw but it depends on your taste buds and texture you desire.
- 500 g strong white flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp quick yeast
- 300 ml warm water
- 1 –2 tbsp ground seaweed
- 1 tbsp oil
- Combine the dry ingredients
- Mix the oil and water together and add to the dry mix.
- On a floured surface, knead your dough for 10 mins.
- Shape dough and place on oiled tin or baking sheet.
- Allow to rise for about 40 minutes
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at about 180° for 35 – 40 minutes depending on your oven.
- Bread is done when it sounds hollow when you tap on the bottom.
- Make sure your oven is pre-heated and if you like you can brush the top of your bread with milk or an egg wash for extra shine and crust
- 12- 16 unpeeled king prawns
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated
- 1 ripe tomato, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 sweet pepper finely diced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups water
- 1 fish stock cube
- olive oil
- dried pepper dulse to taste
- Remove the heads from the prawns.
- In a pot, add a dash of oil and sautee the heads for 3 - 5 minutes.
- De-glaze the pot by adding a dash of wine and stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Add the fish stock cube and 4 cups of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.
- While your stock is cooking, heat a splash of olive oil in a large pan and add the onions, garlic and sweet pepper. Sautee for 5 - 7 minutes.
- Add the fresh tomato, tomato paste and remainder of the wine.
- Add the bay leaves and the rice. Sautee for another minute.
- Strain the fstock and add to the pan. Stir well, turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 12 - 15 minutes or until the rice is about 5 minutes away from being done.
- Add the king prawns and cook for another 5 minutes, or less depending on the size of your prawns.
- Top with dried crumbled dulse to taste.
- Serve with fresh seaweed bread!
- This is a wet rice dish so add more liquid (water if you're out of stock) if required and be careful not to overcook the prawns. Seafood will continue to cook in this hot stew so serve immmediately.
- 24 cloves of garlic
- 4 pieces of monkfish (approximately 7oz/200g each)
- 1 glass dry white wine
- 1 1/2 pints tomato passata
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 tablespoons Alaria sprinkles
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cook garlic in boiling water until al dente. Drain and cool under cold water.
- Heat a thin film of olive oil in a large frying pan and fry monk pieces with the cooked garlic until golden.
- Add wine, reduce until evaporated.
- Add passata, alaria and rosemary.
- Gently simmer over moderate heat until cooked about 8 - 10 minutes.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper .
- Serve the fish with sauce and garlic cloves.
- We are fortunate to live in a fishing community with an abundance of generous fisherman and are always on the look out for new fish recipes. This is a dish that has charmed us and all that garlic and rosemary works really well with monkfish as it has a dense, sweet texture, very similar to lobster.
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, room temperature
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 ½ large bananas)
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 25g (dried sea spaghetti, re-hydrated and roughly chopped)
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
- Cream the coconut oil and sugar together.
- Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which in turn will give the cookies their lift and rise.
- Combine the banana mixture with the butter mixture.
- Sift together the flour, salt, and cinnamon into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.
- Fold the chopped sea spaghetti into your mixture.
- Drop in dollops onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.
- Makes about 30 cookies.
- Great recipe for over ripe bananas and lovely alternative to banana bread.