SUPER-BEAUTIFUL VEGETABLES FROM THE OCEAN

Sea vegetables being hailed as a new superfood. While they’ve been consumed for thousands of years, mainly by people in Japan and other island nations, they are relatively new to western culture. At first blush, they might seem unappealing, but look again -- they are truly beautiful -- they taste beautiful and do beautiful things for your body.

According to World’s Healthiest Foods, the most common nutrients in sea vegetables include calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, vanadium, and zinc.

Sea vegetables are also packed with antioxidants and micronutrients. And some are also an excellent vegan source of biologically-active Vitamin B-12.

You may have sampled some sea vegetables at Japanese restaurants -- nori is the seaweed wrapper used in sushi rolls, kombu is the seaweed used in dashi-based soups, and you might have enjoyed seaweed salads. But there’s way more beyond this to consider.

From sugar kelp, to samphire, to sea lettuce, and more, vegetables that come from the ocean and nearby shores are full of beautiful flavors and textures that deserve a place on your plate! And they are full of beautiful surprises -- some even double as zero carb pasta!

SAMPHIRE

There are two types of samphire seaside plants, rock samphire and marsh samphire, both delicious, but unrelated to each other.

Rock Samphire (Crithmum maritimum) is a succulent member of the carrot family. It is found growing on coastal cliffs and rocky outcrops, such as those along the southeast coast of England.  

It’s green antler-like succulent fronds, yellowish green flowers, and seeds are all edible.  If you’re into enhancing or making your own vermouth or cocktail bitters, the seeds are a lovely addition.

Marsh samphire (a member of the goosefoot family), has become one of our favorite vegetables. Reminiscent of al dente asparagus, with a beautiful salinity, we pair it with seafood or feature it in vegan ocean feasts.

Marsh samphire is delicious, lightly sauteed in butter and served alongside any seaside entree. It also makes a wonderful pickle.

One beautiful place to forage for samphire is Samphire Hoe Country Park, just west of Dover, in Kent, UK. Created with 4.9 million cubic meters of chalk marl from the Channel Tunnel excavations, the park is known for its ample wild samphire crop.

Best time to go is in July, when the rock samphire rocks and the rock sea lavender blooms.

KELP

Kelp is a generic term for seaweed.  There are many varieties of these sea vegetables, each with its own charms, tastes, and textures. What they share in common is their high nutrient contents.

Many require soaking to rehydrate them before eating, while some are delicious eaten in their dried states.

Add mildly sweet Arame to salads. Nori, which normally wraps your sushi rolls, can be toasted, shredded, and added to pilafs. 

Kombu makes incredibly flavorful broth for soups, and sauces, as well as a base for cooking veggies and grains. It’s particularly high in antioxidants.

Wakame is similar to kombu but new research indicates that it has superior fat burning properties.

Our favorite way to eat Dulse is in a D.L.T. Sandwich. We toast sheets of iron and protein packed Dulse in a dry skillet. We toast slices of our favorite Bread Alone Peasant Bread or Nine Grain Bread. Then we slather the toast with daRosario Organic Truffle Vegannaise, top it with toasted Dulse, fresh tomato slices, and fresh leaf or buttercrunch lettuce leaves and, voila -- an incredible vegan version of a B.L.T.

Sugar Kelp (Saccharina latissima) adds sweetness to broths. It’s also delicious deep fried to a crisp.

Many kelps are too tough to eat raw. They are best dried and eaten as crisps or used to flavor broths, adding depth, seasoning, nutrients and umami flavor. Check out the Galloway recipe for dashi.

Some of the lesser known sea vegetables are quite special. Laminaria Japonica kelp is said to help clear heavy metals from your body. It is the key ingredient in Ocean Plant Extract.

Sea Lettuce looks like lettuce, but tastes like the sea. Interestingly, it is best eaten dried and crumbled, to add flavor, texture and loads of nutrients to whatever you like.

Ogonori, aka sea moss, is typically eaten as a cold jelly.

Read our post: The Ultimate Beach Food: Kelp for more delicious ideas.

Read more about Ocean Beauties in  It’s Time To Visit & Save The Great Great Barrier Reef,  Beached Make Our Minds More Beautiful,  Compelling Oceanscapes: Kristin Hettermann, and  The Ocean Cleanup Is Happening Now!

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

Want more stories like this? Sign up for our weekly BN Newsletter, Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr. Join our BeautifulNow Community and connect with the most beautiful things happening in the world right now!

Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Contest. We run new creative contest every week!

IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Courtesy of ARECIPEFORGLUTTONY. “Samphire Growing.”
2. Image: by raider of gin. “Samphire in flower.”
3. Image: by Dean Wm. Taylor. “Crithmum maritimum.”
4. Image: by Rob Oo. “Fresh Green Salad.”
5. Image: Courtesy of CHILLIANDMINT. “Foraging for Samphire on the British Coast.”
6. Image: by Alfred Gay. “Samphire Hoe below the cliffs of Dover.” Samphire Hoe Park. UK.
7. Image: by Jonathan Kriz. “Kelp.” Monterey, California.
8. Image: by Bernard Spragg. “Bull Kelp.” New Zealand.
9. Image: by Ray Ellersick. “Giant Kelp.” Catalina Island, California.
10. Image: by Ed Bierman. “Kelp.” California.
11. Image: by philip hay. “Honeycomb, Dulse & Yellowman.” Ballycastle, Northern Ireland.
12. Image: by Ian Boyd. “Sugar Kelp Glow.” St. Helens Beach. Queensland, Australia.
13. Image: by Pbsouthwood. “Kelp forest floor thick with intermediate.” Partridge Cape, Cape Peninsula. South Africa.
14. Image: by Anna Barnett. “Sea Lettuce and Daisy Anemone.” Chetwode Islands. Wellington, New Zealand.
15. Image: by Rosa Say. “The seaweed we call Ogo.” Hawaii.
16. Image: by Bernard Spragg. “Kelp.” New Zealand.
17. Image: by Mariell Jüssi. “Kelp.”
18. Image: by Kelly The Deluded. “Sunset at Pfeiffer Kelp-Enhanced.” CA.