Wakame Sumashijiru

Why was the sand wet?

Because the sea-weed!!!

Let’s hope the recipe is better than the joke eh 🙂 Aside from my little weekend road trip into the mountains, I’ve mostly been living at the beach this month. Each morning, running along the shore, there’s a ton of fresh seaweed which has washed up onto the rocks. I was asking my friend ‘forager Chris’ if its okay to eat. He explained it’s most probably a type of sea lettuce and freshly collected from rocks it would be safe and good to eat. There are no known poisonous seaweeds off the UK coast. If it interests you Chris runs UK coastal foraging courses. Find out more here;

http://www.tastethewild.co.uk/courses-coastal.html

The reason seaweed fascinates me – I’m re-reading a really interesting book at the moment called ‘Healing with Wholefoods’ by Paul Pritchard. It explores modern nutrition advice and ancient Asian traditions. The book is huge. It’s a food and wellness bible and I love it. There’s so much information to take from it, I could read it a million times over. Here’s a link to the book if you’re interested;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Healing-Whole-Foods-Traditions-Nutrition/dp/1556434308

Part of the book explores calcium and the dairy connection, something which has always fascinated me. In Asia – certainly traditionally – consumption of dairy was rare … yet osteoporosis was unheard of. Yet in Western culture where we’re all encouraged to eat dairy – for calcium – for strong bones … it’s a common complaint. Paul Pritchard explores the calcium connection, whether it’s calcium we lack at all or other elements required by our body’s to make use of calcium. And indeed whether dairy (in it’s current manufactured form) really is the very best source.

Seaweed is in fact a much better option to give your body the calcium it needs. Far better than any other food on the planet.

100g of dried wakame for example contains 1300mg of calcium. Compared to 119mg found in milk that’s pretty astounding. In fact parsley (203mg) almonds (233mg) and watercress (151mg) although nowhere near seaweed in terms of calcium content, are all better sources than milk! Dairy can be a huge problem for acne sufferers, often down to the hormones and trace antibiotics within it. So if you’re looking to heal spots and keep your calcium levels up, seaweed is most definitely top of the shopping list, followed by almonds, parsley and watercress.

WHERE TO BUY?

Dried seaweed is now available in most whole-food stores, most definitely online and in some of the bigger supermarkets too. I found dried Wakame here in Carrefour Spain. Here is a Tesco version for example;

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=276786211

WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE?

If you think it would taste like a plant that’s come out of the sea … you’d be absolutely spot on. That’s pretty much what it tastes like. Is it nice? Well some seaweeds are stronger than others, so pick the least strong if you’re unsure. I like the taste of it in Japanese style soups which is what I’m using this little lot for.

Ingredients (makes 2 bowls)

1 litre water

2 rounded tbsp vegetable bouillon

1 portion udon noodles – dried flat (try these if you avoid gluten)

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 chunk ginger thinly sliced

1/2 tsp Chinese five spice

2 tsp tamari or soy sauce

1 tsp honey

8 shiitake mushrooms

8 florets broccoli

4 chopped spring onions

2-6 tbsp wakame seaweed (see how you go with the taste – add more or less as preferred)

HERE’S HOW

Boil the water in a pan. Once boiling, simmer and add the bouillon

Add the garlic, ginger, five spice, tamari and honey and simmer for 5 minutes

Add the noodles and simmer for 1 minute until they start to soften

Add the mushrooms, broccoli and spring onions and simmer for another 5 minutes

Stir in the seaweed and simmer for another minute or two. Then allow to stand for a couple of minutes before serving

 

Souper Immune Strengthening Noodle Broth

It’s been stormy here today. Endless rain and huge ocean waves. I’ve watched most of it from the comfort of my cosy little van.

I got some sad news this afternoon from a friend back home who’s been unwell. Not sad for him so much because he is brave and inspiring – but it made me stop and think and feel very grateful for my health and life. So I braved the storm and ran beside the huge ocean waves and watched a lone kitesurfer playing in the sea. We are so lucky.

And just before the lightening began, I made it back to the van and put this deliciously warm soup on to heat up.

It’s really quick and easy to make and you can add as much veg and as many greens as you like. I’ve used shiitake mushrooms which are brilliant for autoimmune disorders. Together with turmeric they will work to get your immune system back on track.

1 tbsp coconut oil 

1 small white onion

1 clove of garlic finely chopped

1 small chunk of ginger peeled and chopped

1 tin coconut milk

1 tsp tamari (or soy) sauce 

1 tsp fish sauce 

1 tsp honey 

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander 

2 star anise 

Juice of half a lime 

1 serving rice noodles (I used M&S pad Thai noodles)

Handful shiitake mushrooms 

8 broccoli florets 

HERES HOW

Warm the coconut oil in a sauce pan and add the onion, garlic and ginger. Allow to warm and soften (about 5mins)

Pour in the coconut milk and add the tamari, fish sauce, honey, spices and lime juice. Keep everything warming on a low heat for about 5mins

Add dry rice noodles and all the veg you want. I love shiitake mushrooms and broccoli but you can add mange tout, baby corn, pak choi etc. Just don’t leave it warming too much longer – 5 minutes should do to soften the noodles – as it’s nice to keep the veg bright and crunchy and full of vitamins

Serve with Thai basil or coriander and a grind of black pepper to help your body absorb the turmeric. 

Sweet Squash & Roast Root Soup

My sister has banned me from mentioning the British weather. She lives in Brisbane Australia and it’s their winter … which also happens to be above 20oC most of the time!! Here in England I feel like we’re gradually losing the summer we never even had.

As the evenings get darker and colder I love to make earthy, warming dishes. I haven’t put together a homemade soup for ages and had lots of root vegetables to hand so I figured I’d come up with something simple to make. You can make this recipe in advance and freeze it too.

Lentil Stewp

I know, I know …. it’s STEW or SOUP right?! Not today. Today it’s Stewp! The thought of soup for lunch always used to leave me feeling a little underwhelmed. I either needed it served with a huge chunk of crusty bread or in addition to something else. That’s why, whenever I make soup these days, I like to make it a meal in itself. A lunch that keeps you full for the day without a load of additional white, refined carbs served alongside.

Tom naam ma phraao ~ coconut soup

I love soups when the weather’s cold. For me they either have to be thick and creamy with lots of warming vegetables, or light but filling with tons of delicious spiced flavours. Soups in Thailand are a meal in themselves! Tom Yam is one of my favourites. Made with heaps of fresh ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce, and crushed chilli peppers to give it a distinctive, hot, fragrant flavour.

Immune Regulating Ramen Broth

I used to think soup was boring. A quick and easy lunch option, but not particularly filling unless accompanied by large chunks of thick, white bread! Tinned soups are so full of salt and sugar and while they may seem like a simple choice, this freshly made ramen style broth is so much more filling, full of a zillion health benefits and ridiculously super easy to make.