Eat Your Sea Veggies!

Tonight I honored my pledge to myself to eat more sea veggies. And if our farm produce continues to be contaminated, maybe that's something we should all consider. For me, the hardest part about incorporating sea vegetables is their fishy smell. I used to love fish, so I think what bothers me is that I don't want the fishy taste or smell to dominate the recipe. I decided to start with a small amount of wakame. It is the mildest of the sea vegetables. It's got a silky, but not slimy, texture when rehydrated. I bought it chopped. If you haven't used it, be warned - it rehydrates to 10 times its package size. So here's what I came up with:

Millet with Shitakes and Wakame

I began by rehydrating a 1 ounce package of shitake mushrooms and probably only 1 tablespoon of wakame. It was 2 good pinches. I'm a little afraid of how much it grows. Then I saw some sundried tomatoes and threw in about 8 of those.

While those were rehydrating, I prepared the millet. Toast 1/2 cup of millet in a medium nonstick saucepan for 1 minute, then add 1 cup of boiling water. When it returns to a boil, reduce to a simmer and it's ready in 10 to 12 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Saute one small red onion, 1 cup of fresh baby bella mushrooms, and 1/2 cup of shredded carrots with a little kosher salt.

By the time the onion mixture is soft, the millet should be ready. Take it off the heat and set aside. Drain the wakame, tomatoes, and shitakes. I deglazed my skillet with a little water, then added 1 tablespoon Braggs, the drained veggies, and the millet.

The verdict? It was a hearty, chunky, fried rice-like dish with nice textures and no fishy taste or smell (although it still smells fishy in the kitchen). I picked out a piece of wakame to taste alone, and it really had no distinct taste at all. In fact, the shitakes provided the most flavor. I began my meal with a small, tentative bowl and went back for another! Hey, it was a start.

Thanks to everyone who wished my son good health. He let me know today he felt good enough to attend classes.