Healthy eating in a changing world

With the potential for radiation spreading in the atmosphere due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan I posted a recipe for a seaweed soup on FaceBook over the weekend and am now re posting it here.

This recipe is inspired by Susun Weed’s book Healing Wise. My kids would call it ‘low tide’ soup and it had a wonderful aroma of the beach at low tide! Something every child who grew up in the Islands carries with them no matter where they end up!

So, begin with basic soup making, sauté a chopped onion, grated or finely chopped carrots, plus other vegetables – daikon, napa cabbage, burdock (gobo), etc. till you have a nice pile in the pan. Use toasted sesame oil or coconut oil to sauté until the vegetables are wilted and starting to caramelize (no, not burn, but just before).

Mean while take a bunch of seaweeds – hiziki, wakame, bladderwack (fucus), kombu broken into small pieces and soak them in water while the vegetables cook. Do not use powdered seaweed! You want the ‘vegetables’ from the sea that are dried whole. If the pieces are large, take them from the water and cut them into smaller pieces on a cutting board – do not throw away the water.

When the vegetables are cooked a bit add the chopped seaweeds and their soaking water plus water to make enough soup to feed your crowd. Simmer for half hour to 45 minutes.

Just before serving add a couple of tablespoons of toasted sesame oil, good quality tamari and hot pepper oil to taste plus some chopped cilantro. Cilantro is another of the cleanser herbs and will also help protect from within.

This soup can smell very seaweedy but is delicious when the toasted oil, tamari and pepper oil is in balance. Yum. Have fun!