Adventures in Seaweed 2

I am a convert!

It was a challenge for me initially but I have persisted and am really enjoying my sea spaghetti now.

I prepared a meal for a friend and her 3 children yesterday and it went down really well, they all seemed to enjoy it and asked their mother to make it for them at home.

Meanwhile P was having none of it – so I used the sauce with regular wholewheat pasta for her – which she eventually tried – I like to think that seeing her big-girl shero enjoying new food will be absorbed into her pint-sized psyche, and have a positive impact sometime in the future.

I soaked the sea spaghetti in the morning to eat that evening, so rinsed it several times through the day to try to make it as mild a possible, although if you enjoy seafood you may prefer to leave the soaking until about half an hour before you at eating so as to retain as much of the taste as possible.

Again I was looking for a very strongly flavoured sauce, not sure that pesto would quite cut it I created the sauce below, all measurements are approximate and where possible all ingredients are organic and raw.

Ingredients

50 g Sea spaghetti (will reconstitute to 400g)

For the sauce

80g sun-dried tomatoes

100g Sunflower seeds

100g whole tahini

50ml olive oil

juice of a whole lemon

2-4 cloves of garlic

Water

To taste

Cayenne pepper, tamari, freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

To serve

Sliced olives – I love these (no, they are not organic – sorry about that, but they taste amazing)

Paprika

Hemp seeds

Lemon juice

Method

Soak the sundried tomatoes, sunflower seeds and seaweed in warm water for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight (in separate containers) and rinse in cold water before using.

Blend all the sauce ingredients with as much water as needed to make a creamy sauce – this may take some time, depending on the strength of your blender.

Taste and adjust ingredients to your preference.

Gently pat seaweed dry(ish) with a clean tea-towel then pile into a serving dish, coat with sauce and sprinkle with sliced olives, hemp seeds, paprika and more lemon juice.

Enjoy with  a salad of rocket and watercress, and a big helping of friendship.