Wakame and its amazing benefits. Wakame is most known to be used in Japanese cuisines such as miso or cucumber salad. Traditional Chinese medicine uses it for blood purification: in Korea woman sip a wakame soup after they give birth to help recovery. Wakame is esp rich in iodine, essential for healthy thyroids.  You will mostly find wakame as a deep green dried strip or flakes. They can be used in soups, salads and much more.

Wakame Salad with Cucumbers and Carrots-

Serves 8

1/2 oz of dried wakame

3 cucumbers, peeled

1 large carrot, peeled

3 tbs. seasoned rice vinegar

1 tbs. toasted sesame oil

1 tbs. soy sauce

1 tsp. honey

1/4 cup red onion, finely sliced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

3 tbs. gomashio seasoning

Instructions-

Place wakame in a bowl and cover with warm water. Soak in the water for 10 minutes, and then drain in a colander and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Pull the leaves apart and spread out on a clean dish towel.Press to dry. Trim away any tough stems and stack wakame leaves. Roll them together and transfer to cutting board, then cut into thin slices and place into bowl. 

Peel the cucumbers and carrots into thin strips. Add vegetable strips to wakame. Discard the cucumber seeds. Whisk together the vinegar, oil, soy sauce and honey in a small bowl. Stir in the onion and red pepper flakes. Pour the vinegar mixture into the wakame mix and mix it up. Cover and chill up to 20 minutes. Serve it with a sprinkle of gomashio and you can garnish with parsley as well. – Kali Orexi