Good friend and teammate of Betty Spaghetti.
(You got the reference, right? 
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As a little girl in Japan, I’d often come across Nori, a popular snack food. Nori is a thin, dried sheet of seaweed used for sushi, sprinkled on foods as a condiment, or just eaten plain. My sister absolutely adored the stuff. But me? I detested it. When we moved away from Japan, I was sad to leave many things. Nori was not one of them.
With the bad memories of nori etched in my mind, I had no plans for a reunion.
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Enter the New Food Challenge.
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Enticed by all the health benefits one can reap from eating seaweed, I decided to grant my nemesis a second chance. Therefore, during a trip to Whole Foods, I scooped up a bag of arame.
This girl loathes following a recipe (it’s constricting!), so after reading a bit about my new friend online, I set out to create my own dish.
Result? I found that I really like arame. The taste is not as “fishy” as nori or hijiki, nor is it as sickly-salty. It adds a perfect compliment to the veggies in the following salad, which I’ve been chomping non-stop. Hello iron, potassium, fiber, and calcium! And it’s so easy to prepare– you don’t even need to cook it!
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“All the way Arame” Salad
- Dried arame
- Water
- Carrot
- Green pepper
- Red pepper
- Zucchini
- Celery
- Other veggies of choice (red onion is really good, as is red cabbage)
- Shoyu
- Rice vinegar
Instructions:
1. Soak the arame in water for 5 minutes. Drain.
2. Cut the raw veggies into bite-sized pieces and add them to the arame.
3. Add the vinegar and shoyu (equal parts vinegar and shoyu), and mix well.
4. Serve cold. (Best if first served the next day, to give the veggies time to “marinate”)
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Chocolate Arame-Covered Meals of the Day
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Savory snack: arame salad, Steamfresh brussels sprouts, and a banana
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(Strange, but yummy, breakfast: Arame salad, an apple, and Ezekiel cinnamon-raisin toast)
Please excuse the cosmic-y background. Girl was having a bit too much fun with Photoshop. It’s happened before…
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Chocolate-Covered Reminder:
Today is the LAST day to enter the New Food Challenge! So if you want to win any of the items below, you’d better hurry!!
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Seaweed is so good. Im glad you gave it a second try. Your salad looks great too!
I tried seaweed once and loved it! This challenge has been fantastic. Today I tried kale for the first time. Thanks for making me push myself out of a rut and to experience new food! I’ve found some new favorites along the way.
Your salads look lovely – yum! Can’t wait to try my new food this week
I tried seaweed about 4 years ago and didn’t like it– maybe I should give it another chance. That salad looks yummy!
Katie your so creative!! I love your meals. I have never had Arame but thanks for the idea! I will have to look for it next time I hit up a WF.
~Justine
I have never tried it! Hmmm…perharps I should give it a go!
YAY for giveaways! I am hosting one too!
http://nutritiousisdelicious.blogspot.com/2009/05/holey-bang-of-giveaway.html
Not really in to seaweed either, but will have to try your salad. Looks like it would make a great lunch for work. Have that salad with some rice with furikake, walnuts, some fruit and something sweet.
That salad looks delicious- love all of the colorful veggies!
i knew it was arame!
i bought a bag of it a week or so ago but haven’t made it yet. i love arame, i’ve just never prepared it myself. your “all the way arame” salad looks really colorful and tasty! i don’t know if i could stomach it for breakfast, but it looks like an appetizing lunch or dinner!
-JB
http://cardiovegsular.wordpress.com/
I reallly need to get out more hahaha…I’ve never heard of arame before.
You eat so healthily it really inspires me to eat better!
SweetKaroline
http://sweetkaroline.wordpress.com/
i love when you post pics of meals. they always are so balanced and fun and great for me to TRY to mimic
cinnamon raisin toast is always very comforting for bfast. ezekiel is amazing too – i saw a rerun of oprah this wk (on the biggest loser show and how the contestants are doing Now -from a season or two ago) and even oprah said she likes ezekiel bread hehe.
I think arame is my favorite sea veggie. Your salad sounds yummy!
I was SO close to getting some nori wraps (cone shaped- how cool!) for the last day of the challenge…go out with a BANG, heh. I opted for some awesome purple sprouts though which were GREAT! I blogged and posted in the competition thread!
tried loquat, and sunnut butter, and….hmmm what else. oh, some morelo cherry jam w/o sugar (just applejuice concentrate)…. really liked the loquat. kinda citrucy and appleish. and the stones are fun and would make good playing pieces for a boardgame….oooh and made some molases waver thingermerjiggers by just throwing ingredients. good sandwich cookie biscuit; just need to decide on a filling…maybe morello cherry jam?
Last night I got back to my place and woke up with no groceries (I’d been out of town for quuuuite awhile). So in search of SOMETHING I found a can of something I totally forgot about! It was a can of gooseberries. I had to rinse them off though because they were canned in an incredibly thick syrup (yuuuck!). I liked them, but I think they would taste better with something vanilla-y. Perhaps I’ll make vanilla oats tomorrow and make a little something-something.
You sure know how to make seaweed look appetizing!
Glad you re-tried nori and found that you liked it! I find that foods I hated as a child are actually pretty good now. Weird how our taste buds evolve!
I tried starfruit, ugh I had the same opinion as you. Too bad too cause it’s so cute!! I also tried okra, I oven fried it and loooved it!
I’ve never actually tried seaweed like that before. Just dusle/kelp flakes.
I’ve never been one to love anything fishy tasting, but maybe I should give it a try!
“There’s no crying in baseball!!”
Mmm, I love nori. I’m so glad you branched out and added arame to your daily meal. It sure does look delicious!
You are brave, Katie! I love how you made the arame work for you.
Katie,
It’s always a good idea to try foods we thought we hated as kiddos. ;P It can lead to some suprisingly delicious results.
Have a great Monday!
With Love,
Emily
Ahh! I am so behind-I’m catching up on all your posts! Didn’t even know a/b the New Food Challenge! Close call.
Hey Miss Katie!
Hmm, arame? This looks like something I need to give a try sometime soon. Thanks for the recommendation and your recipe.
Hope your summer is going well!
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I spent many a happy year in Japan as a kid, too! I developed a taste for seaweed pretty early on in life
I don’t know if I’ve ever tried arame though….I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for it.
don’t know if i’ve seen arame, time to keep my eyes peeled
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