365 IN 365 - The Other Seafood

Jennifer Armstrong is the creator of this series of posts, published bi-monthly, entitled 365 in 365. These posts will help guide us all as we accept the 6D opportunity to diversify our plants in order to nurture and nourish our microbiome and thus improve our health and wellness.

When I stopped eating animals many years ago, one of the things I missed was my old favorite, tuna salad sandwiches. I thought I was never going to enjoy that distinct flavor again - until I discovered seaweed.  Turns out, a lot of the briny flavor we associate with seafood actually comes from the food those creatures eat - with algae being the first link in that food chain.  Seaweeds (algae) have been consumed by humans for millennia; there is even speculation that we could not have evolved from our more primitive ancestors without the important trace elements which promote brain development and which are found abundantly in seaweed.  The archaeological record shows evidence of seaweed consumption by humans stretching back as far as the last Ice Age.

There are as many as 145 varieties of edible seaweeds eaten around the world.  145! That’s nearly halfway to our goal of 365!  Although it’s unlikely any of us are going to find access to 145 different species of seaweeds, it’s not too hard to get your hands on half a dozen or so very common varieties in their dried form.  Kombu, nori, dulse, wakame, arame, and sea lettuce are increasingly easy to find in grocery stores or online.   Its starring role in so much of Japanese food makes nori familiar to millions around the world.  Anybody who has ever grabbed a sushi wrap has eaten seaweed.

In addition to contributing unique briny qualities to food, seaweeds also offer myriad nutrients, considered by the National Institutes of Health (USA) to be a nutrient-rich food.  They are high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols, prebiotics and Omega-3 fatty acids.  They are low in calories and relatively high in protein.  Seaweeds are also a plant-based source of glutamate, which contributes umami, or savoriness, to dishes.

Use them dry and ground to powder as a seasoning, reconstitute them for seaweed salads, or add them to vegetable stock to make a vegan dashi for a traditional noodle soup.  

Many people always add a bit of kombu when cooking beans, because one of the enzymes in the kombu helps to decrease bean-caused gassiness. Because they are typically sold dehydrated, seaweeds keep for months in the pantry, making it easy to grab a variety and then try them over time in different ways.  

I hope I have convinced you to explore “the other seafood,” by now.  Try searching online for seaweed recipes and give one a go, and then let us know how you like it!

About Jennifer Armstrong

Jennifer Armstrong has spent her life making things; she has had a long career of writing books for children, decades of gardening, painting, making music, and cooking. A 2023 graduate of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies course in Plant- Based Nutrition, she has also combined her interest in sustainability with her love of food by learning how to can and dehydrate, saving as much of the local harvest as possible for use throughout the year.  She lives in upstate New York.

Jennifer is both a blog writer and event moderator at 6D Living. Her blog post series 365 in 365 will explore how we can all diversify and improve our microbiome. Jennifer is also an administrator for our public, world-wide event of the same name. This free event is a year long community activity with one goal only - get more people on the planet a wider variety of plants.

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