Seaweed Made Easy - Here's My Secret

I have a secret. (or had one)

If you checked out my last post about seaweed, how delicious and therapeutic is, you have a glimpse into my love affair with it.  I am back after a weekend adventure to Lopez Island in the San Juans of Washington State where I harvested fresh bullwhip kelp (a brown seaweed variety native to the eastern Pacific Northwest waters).  There’s quite the kelp jungle strung up outside my window on my patio as I write this.  

My patio: drying bullwhip kelp blades 

I do realize there is a bit of involvement required to harvest ones own supply of sea vegetation; to plan a trip to an island, research safe places to harvest; camp and kayak your way through cold waters, out to ancient kelp beds with a pocket knife in hand and heavy duty bags stuffed between your legs in the intimate space of a kayak. 

That's me - with bullwhip kelp in hand. The long tube is the stipe and the bulb
at the end connects all the kelp blades.  Beautiful, right?

If you have the opportunity, do it, at least once.  There is quite a difference between store-bought, commercially-harvested seaweed compared to gentle, hand-harvested seaweed.  It's also quite a treat to transport this wet, heavy mass of kelp goodness homeward; string up ropes, wires and the like and spend a couple hours gently unfolding each and every piece to hang it up to dry in the sun.  You also have to love seaweed enough that when you hang it to dry, you don’t mind the occasional splat of salty-sea smelling, mildly slimy liquid slapping you in the face (kind of reminds me of the "spritz bath" I get from my friend's lovingly, snorty Boston Terriors). 

Harvesting and drying seaweed takes a bit of time, but is well worth every moment.  I love to connect with my food.  And truly there is this sweetly sublime moment when you are holding onto the stipe of the bullwhip kelp as it is still connected to the sea floor.  There is this moment when you are very aware of how magnificent it is to be sitting so close to the water atop a strong and mighty fortress of kelp.  

Close up of bullwhip kelp.
Fun fact: Kelp can grow up to 100 feet long and the blades up to 12 feet!  

If you don't have the opportunity to harvest it fresh,  I suggest finding a friend who knows how to properly harvest it and is willing to share; buy from a wild forager who lives on the islands or buy from quality companies (like Eden Foods) in your natural foods market.  You want to know it's fresh, healthy, has been sustainably harvested and safely harvested from clean, moving waters.

Now for the secret. 

Adding seaweed to your dishes definitely amps up the flavor and nutritional profile.  And while there are some very adventurous and cultured palettes out there that will eat chunks of seaweed gladly, for the majority of the population, this might be a bit of a stretch. 

I would be doing you no favors if I raved about how much of a treasure seaweed is without offering a gentle and easy way to incorporate it into your diet and to use it with ease.  It’s not a super revolutionary idea.  But it is a simple, practical tip and in my book, that equals awesome.

Here’s my tip: Ground the dried pieces in a spice grinder until it’s a fine powder.  Pour your ground kelp into a spice shaker and place it next to your salt and other cooking spices.  You can sprinkle it on almost any dish you prepare and do so as liberally or conservatively as you like.  You can use it as a salt substitute and reduce your sodium intake as well.  

Dried kelp to the left; ground kelp to the right

Some days, I'm feeling spunky and break out the arame, hijiki and wakame and boldly deck out my dishes with sea vegetables, but in the day-to-day in the Nester home, this is how I roll.  Eggs over easy, quinoa, oatmeal, stir-fries, pizzas, you name it; they all get a sprinkling of ground kelp.  This is a wonderfully accessible way to incorporate this nutrient-rich super food consistently and add it in to dishes in such a way that is kid friendly, too.  

If you are feeling a little cheeky, you can add it to vegetable frittatas that you serve your in-laws and not tell them until afterwards.  I also am not shy with adding it to a batch of brownies or cookie dough.  Most people never know it’s in there.  Come on, cookies AND minerals… heck yeah.

Photo By Dale Nester: Bullwhip kelp on San Juan Island

Go harvest or buy some kelp.  Ground it up.  And go seaweed crazy. It’s far too easy to incorporate this mineral-rich, tasty and extraordinary food into your diet than you may have ever thought. 

***Note: If you have a hyperactive thyroid or are concerned about iodine content in seaweed, talk with your physician before consuming seaweed on a regular basis.