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The life of a kelp plant is about three years, spent in a tidal flow that reverses direction every six hours. Imagine being anchored by a holdfast, your hollow stipe gently lifting you toward the light, your wide blade/frond growing in the ocean's inflow/outflow/inflow/outflow......and you're one of the multitude that have been doing this since the beginning of Ocean here on this planet. Your life began when your tiny spore settled and attached to a rock. The first year you grew to a foot long, the second year, six feet long, and now, in your third year, you are one of the elders in a kelp bed, twelve feet long and exposed to turbulence on the surface at low tide. This is your last year, and you are releasing spores from the tip of your frond that will become the next generation of kelp. You are one of the Old Ones, a member of one of the oldest families of sea plants on earth, aligned with the flow of the universe.....and in the Light.....and there is no "I"......there is only the ancient All in One.

A Google search on seaweed will reveal that it is being studied for its positive effects on cancer prevention, cardiovascular health, degenerative disease combatant, detoxification, infection control, intestinal cleanser and healer, respiratory enhancer, sexual health and hormone support, thyroid balancer, weight-loss aid, and wound healer. For me, kelp is one of the great balancers of my body, and I use it daily.

Reconstitute kelp by cutting 4-5 inch lengths with a scissors and then soaking in warm water for 5 to 10 minutes. Then, to use as a vegetable, cut into strips or small squares and add to stir-fried vegetables, bean stews, soups, hot cooked grains, or simple noodle dishes flavored with miso or tamari. Kelp goes well with carrots, onions, parsnips, rutabaga, turnips, tofu, parsley, kale, cabbage, and other greens. Kelp may be used as a tenderizer for cooking beans, peas, and lentils. Kelp contains glutamic acid that softens the beans, making them more digestible. Simply add a 4 inch piece of kelp per pound of dried beans and cook until tender.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small sweet chopped onion
1 carrot, grated or chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
thyme to taste
1/2 cup soaked kelp, chopped
3 cups warm cooked brown rice
sea salt to taste
cayenne or fresh grated ginger juice to taste
1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and garlic. Sprinkle with thyme, cook for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the kelp and cook for 2 minutes. Add the cooked rice, stir in the ginger juice or cayenne, sprinkle with salt and sesame seeds.

Cut a 5-inch piece of soaked kelp into bite-size pieces. Add to one quart of water and bring to a boil. Add cut vegetables from yang to yin: carrots, onions, celery, greens. Turn off the pot when veggies are tender. Soften two teaspoons miso in a bit of stock and add. Allow to sit a few minutes before serving. Serves 4.

Kelp may be roasted in an oven at 200° and crumbled as a condiment. This will supply minerals to the body, but I prefer wet recipes to roasted recipes. Iodine is a volatile, and some of it is lost to the air during the roasting process, as compared to iodine bound by water in wet recipes.

Nevertheless, kelp is a tasty condiment, and this recipe is a good snack for those who have a sweet tooth:

1/2 cup rice syrup or maple syrup
1/3 cup safflower oil
1 cup roasted kelp, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup sesame seeds
1 tsp shoyu

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine syrup and oil until well mixed. Bring to a boil in large skillet and cook until frothy. Add almonds, stir until well coated. Stir in sesame seeds and kelp. Sprinkle in shoyu. Spread in thin layer on baking sheet and bake about 7-10 minutes. Watch closely so mixture doesn't burn. Scrape loose with spatula and let cool in pan. Break into bite-sized pieces.

I was a boy, looking into my father's eyes, the night he died of cancer. It took me years, healing my grief and loss of him, before I was able to realize that his mind essence had been transferred to me. Occasionally, a channel or a psychic will pick up on the link he and I have, and the message is always some variation of "He wants you to know that he never left you." One particular psychic relayed this message: "He wants you to know that the alaria you harvest could have helped to heal his cancer."

This message came after Jane Teas, a cancer researcher, had used alaria in a nutritional study with breast cancer survivors, and her opinion was that alaria helps strengthen the immune system against cancer. I was guided by my dad to settle in this place where a lot of beautiful alaria grows in the surf.

The Pacific cousin of alaria is wakame, and you may substitute alaria in any recipe that calls for wakame. Alaria grows about a foot a week in May and June. Yesterday I watched my son Jay harvesting alaria on a ledge that was being intermittently covered over by three foot high surf swells.

When the wave surged over him, he hung on to the alaria like a rock climber grabbing his rope.

When the wave retreated, he cut himself free and walked the alaria to a bushel basket on higher ledge. Jay has the same tenacity and flexibility as alaria, and it's a joy to watch him working/playing in the surf.

Alaria is one of the most versatile sea vegetables that we harvest. The plants are 6-12 feet long, graceful and delicate, yet strong. They are olive-brown flat ribbons 1-3" wide with midribs that flash golden in the water. Alaria has a very clean smell and a mild taste. It grows in open surf, some of the most highly charged water on the planet. Alaria dancing in the surf reminds me of a beautiful ballerina: strong, yet gentle and graceful. Harvesting alaria in surf demands a sure agility and a consciousness that is constantly in present moment: I spot the alaria I want to cut, a wave covers it, but I remain focused on the spot and grab a hank of the alaria at its base as the wave goes out; another wave comes and covers me as I tenaciously hang on to the hank of alaria and cut it free from the ledge; the wave recedes, and I walk out of the surf, dragging the eight foot long hank of alaria firmly grasped in my hand, ready to be trimmed and swirled into a basket. Ho hum, another day at the office.....mid-June, new moon tide, first light at 4 a.m., Eastern Island, birds just waking up, baby seals in the water calling to their mothers. Soon the sun will appear.

In the kitchen, the quick way to cut dry alaria is with a scissors. You can also soak alaria, then use a knife to cut it. Since alaria expands as it rehydrates, the second method of cutting alaria (after it has rehydrated, with a knife) will give you more control over the size of your final pieces. Don't throw away the soaking water! This water contains minerals. For instance, alaria is high in calcium. It's comparable to whole sesame seeds as far as calcium content (1,100 mg/100 g) and has high vitamin A content (8487 IU/100 g) similar to parsley and spinach. It's a wise choice for nourishing your bones. It's rich in B complex vitamins, vitamin C & K. It has moderate iodine, good for everyone, especially those with type A or B blood. Use the soak water for cooking. Pre-soaking alaria is a way of tenderizing it. Pre-soak alaria for at least an hour, until the midrib is thoroughly rehydrated.

Total cooking time for alaria (slow boil/fast simmer) needs to be at least 20-40 minutes. Remember that this isn't like Japanese wakame which is often parboiled before drying to make it tender (and also results in the loss of minerals!). After 20-40 minutes of simmering, add sliced vegetables. The simplest combination would be one part alaria to four parts carrots. Cook until the carrots are tender. Add tamari to taste. Sometimes I throw in a couple of cloves, and it seems to work. Another simple combination is one part alaria, four parts green beans and a handful of almonds or sliced almonds, cooked until the beans are tender. Add a dash of tamari and a sprig of parsley. Another way to handle this dish would be to simmer the alaria until tender, place the green beans in boiling water for two minutes, drain and run under cold water to retain crispness and color, and then sauté the green beans in a cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat for three minutes (use refined sesame oil), add alaria and continue to sauté for three to four minutes. Remove from heat and season with tamari and add tamari-roasted almonds or sliced almonds. Pecans will work, too. Serve hot or cold.

Alaria is delicious when cooked with rice, barley, or millet. Cooked with beans (adukis, lentils, pintos, etc.), alaria will impart a rich "gravy" texture and help make the beans more digestible.

1 Tbsp oil (refined sesame or olive)
2 Tbsp shoyu
1 Tbsp rice syrup
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
1/4 c maitake mushrooms, soaked
1/2 c (1/4 oz. dry) alaria, soaked and sliced into small pieces
1-2 c finely sliced vegetables (green beans, leeks, cauliflower, carrots, etc.)

Heat skillet and add oil, shoyu, rice syrup & ginger. Simmer 30 seconds, then add onion and garlic (if using). Sauté 1-2 minutes. Add alaria and sauté until well coated. Add water just to cover and simmer 15-20 minutes. Add vegetables, sauté briefly, cover and steam until vegetables are bright and crispy tender.

Simmer a cup of rehydrated alaria which has been snipped into one inch strips in enough water to cover for 20-30 minutes until tender. Drain and save the cooking water.

For the sauce: Combine in a blender: 1/2 cup tahini with lemon juice to taste, fresh herbs like thyme and basil and oregano, a clove or two of garlic, soak water from alaria. Set aside.

Blanch sliced vegetables in boiling water, looking for an intensification of color, immediately removing them to cold water. Use string beans, asparagus, colorful peppers, carrots, broccoli florets, whatever strikes your fancy.

Bring the blanching water back to a boil and cook pasta (linguine or fettuccine) until al dente. Drain, saving one cup cooking water. Put the pasta back in the pot and stir in a tablespoon of olive oil. Then add the vegetables and alaria to the pasta and stir in the sauce, combining gently. Add a few tablespoons of cooking water if desired. Reheat the mixture briefly and serve garnished with parsley and fresh herbs.

A lot of so-called raw seaweed salads found in oriental restaurants are actually made from blanched or parboiled seaweeds from the upper green zone which is more susceptible to pollution (and the recipe usually includes white sugar), so if you are a strict raw foodist, I advise you to learn to make your own raw seaweed salads from the brown zone which includes alaria, a very clean and vital choice. Dry alaria needs to be reconstituted with water for a few hours. As you sprinkle water on the dry alaria, think of it as making a pancake batter, and you want enough water to wet the flour, but not so much that it's runny. After the alaria is reconstituted, use a knife or scissors to cut it finely. (You could also cut dry alaria finely with a scissors before reconstituting it.) Add lemon juice. This will help release nutrients into solution, and it will also allow you to preserve reconstituted alaria in the refrigerator for up to three days. You may find it gets more tender with time. If you're not adverse to using heat, you can also blanch alaria briefly, steam for ten minutes, or even pressure cook for five minutes.

A salad marinade or dressing can be made with grated ginger juice (squeeze the juice out of the pulp or use a juicer), orange juice or raw unpasteurized honey for sweetener, sesame or toasted sesame oil or olive oil, a dash of tamari and/or brown rice vinegar. Mix it all together in proportion to suit your taste. The longer the alaria soaks, the more tender it becomes. Now imagine using this seaweed salad with chopped apples, or adding it to a dark green salad that includes romaine or baby greens, cucumber and parsley. Or how about small chunks of oranges or clementines? Yum! Keep experimenting! Keep it fresh and alive!

Thinly slice one pound of unwaxed cucumbers and sprinkle with one teaspoon of sea salt; set aside for thirty minutes. Dice half of a red pepper. In a small bowl, combine two tablespoons lemon juice, half a tablespoon sesame oil, one teaspoon rice vinegar. Lightly rinse the cucumbers, combine with the red pepper and a quarter cup of reconstituted and chopped alaria (see Raw Alaria Basics). Toss with the dressing.

Salad:

3/4 cup alaria, soaked and sliced
1 medium carrot, grated or sliced in very fine matchsticks
1/2 red onion, sliced in thin half-moons
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup celery, cut in 1/8" slices
1-2 scallions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 pear, cut in 1/2" chunks
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Dressing:

1" piece of fresh ginger, grated and juice extracted
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
1 tsp umeboshi vinegar
1 Tbsp rice syrup or honey
1/4 cup olive or sesame oil

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Set aside. Combine salad ingredients, except for walnuts, chopping and adding pear last to prevent it turning brown. Add enough dressing to lightly coat salad ingredients and toss gently. (Extra dressing may be refrigerated to use on other salads.) Allow salad to marinate 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle walnuts over top before serving.

Combine chopped tomatoes, avocado, lime and/or lemon juice, scallions, cilantro, sweet and/or hot peppers, olives and a dash of cayenne with finely chopped rehydrated alaria and a tablespoon of olive oil. Serve on a bed of mixed salad greens, or use as a stuffing in pita bread, tacos or tortillas, with grated cheese, beans and rice on the side.

Freshly harvested and dried dulse is too tough for most people to chew. The secret of tender dulse is a bit like aging cheese. The dulse is spread out in the early morning hours to soak up a bit of humidity from the air, and then it is packed away tightly for a few weeks. This kicks off an enzyme process that breaks down the cell walls of the dulse, and the flavors slowly change. Thus "crisp" dulse becomes "soft" mellow dulse. You can order it from me in either form.

Once dulse has been softened, it needs to be used within six months, unless it is kept refrigerated, in which case it can be kept for a year. Crisp dry dulse has a shelf life of two years or more, provided it is kept out of sunlight and tightly sealed away from humidity in the air. Most people eat soft dulse as is.

2 pears (you can substitute apples)
Lemon juice
2 stalks celery, diced
1 carrot, grated
1/2 c dry-roasted nuts or seeds (pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or sunflower seeds)
1/2 c dried soft dulse, cut into small pieces
1-2 Tbsp Vegenaise or tofu mayonnaise
1 tsp umeboshi vinegar

Chop pears into 1/2" pieces. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Add celery, carrots, nuts or seeds (chopped coarsely if desired) and dulse. Combine with Vegenaise and umeboshi vinegar to taste.

1 c dulse, rinsed and cut into small pieces
2 cups sprouts
1/2 cup sliced red and yellow peppers
1/2 cup sliced scallions or red onion
1 stalk celery, sliced
1/2 cup avocado, scopped with a melon ball tool
1 tomato cut into small wedges

Combine the above salad ingredients and serve on a bed of greens, topped with dressing.

Dressing: lemon juice, raw honey, and tahini, in proportion to your taste

Shred or grate carrots and beets
Soak the grated carrots and beets in a dressing of lemon juice, raw
honey, and ginger juice

Top with your choice from each group below:

• reconstituted dried cherries, cranberries, raisins
• walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds
• rinsed dulse, chopped fine
• parsley, chopped fine

There are many variations on chowder recipes that can be made using dulse. Chowders are usually comfort foods for warming us up, and there are several ways to create that thick creamy base that glides down to the tummy. One way is to use dairy, but that has the tendency to create stuffiness in people, so I prefer other methods. One method is to cook digitata kelp for an hour or so until the alginates go into solution. The Japanese would call this flavorful soup base dashi. Another method is to cook rolled oats for half an hour, adding water to create a soupy consistency. Another possibility is arrowroot and/or soymilk. Once you've established the base, sauté sliced onions with a sprinkle of salt and a lot of thyme. Use refined sesame oil. Sautéed garlic is a good addition, too. While occasionally stirring the onions over low heat, slice potatoes and carrots, dice turnips and/or rutabaga, and start them cooking. Turn off the onions when they're translucent. Cut up fish (haddock, salmon, cod, hake, or pollock) in cubes and marinate in tamari to firm it up. Chop a stalk of celery. Add the fish to the pot when the roots are almost done, and a few minutes later, add the celery, then the onions, and some finely cut dulse. If you like a bit of spice, sprinkle a bit of cayenne. Frozen corn can also be thawed and added for the last five minutes of simmering. Serve with a garnish of parsley. On the second day, try adding parsley or kale greens when you reheat the chowder. Green it up! This will taste even better than it did the first day. (I've also been known to add a quart of pasta sauce when guests show up unannounced at the last minute, stretching the chowder to yield a few extra bowlfuls.)

Clams can be substituted for fish in the above recipe.

2 c carrot, sliced
1 c celery, sliced
1 c dulse, soaked 2-3 minutes and sliced.

Placewater in pot and bring to boil. Reduce to med-low, add carrots, blanch till bright and still crisp. Remove carrots to plate to cool, reserving cooking water. Bring water back to boil, and repeat process with celery. Drain carrots and celery, mix together with dulse in a serving bowl.

4 c. cooked rice
1 c (1/2 oz) dried dulse
1 c green onions
Refined sesame oil for sautéing

Snip dulse into small pieces. Slice scallions thinly. Sauté both in oil about thirty seconds. Add rice and sauté till very hot. Add shoyu to taste and sprinkle with lemon juice or fresh ginger juice.

Mince two cloves garlic and sauté briefly in two tablespoons refined sesame oil. Add two quarts chopped kale and sauté until the color deepens. Add 1/2 cup soaked drained, chopped dulse and 1/3 cup tamari-roasted sunflower seeds. Cover and steam about two minutes.

A variation on the above recipe would add sautéed parsnips and/or onions in addition to the garlic.

Pan fry dulse in refined sesame oil until it crisps, turns yellow/green, and smells like bacon.

Spread mayo on toasted & buttered bread, add lettuce, dulse, and tomato. A DLT!

Nori is 35% protein. Chew on a piece of nori and there will be aftertastes in your mouth that link it to proteins like fish, chicken gristle, or your own fresh blood when you accidentally cut your finger and suck it. In other words, nori is related to the fascial support system of your body, and it nourishes it. Wild fresh nori is rubbery, elastic, and flexible---like healthy connective tissue. Whenever I have a sprained joint or a wound to heal, I get hungry for nori.

Aquaculturists who grow nori tuck their nets away in quiet water, and this inevitably leads to pollution from the buildup of petrochemicals floating on the surface of the water, the result of too much boat traffic. There's simply not enough tidal flush and flow in aquacultural settings to grow the same level of purity and quality as wild nori. Once you've tasted wild nori......nori that hasn't been tampered with...... you won't go back to using aquacultured nori that has been chopped up and made into paper through a heat process, then stored in the package for months before coming to market.

(macro version, thanks to John, Barbara, Karen)

1 c dried nori
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
Pinch cayenne (or to taste) OR substitute cumin powder or fresh grated ginger
1 tsp kuzu dissolved in 3 Tbsp cold water
1/2 c water or soy milk
1-2 tsp shoyu
1 onion
Approximately 1 c safflower oil for deep-frying

Combine flour, baking powder, sea salt & cayenne. Add dissolved kuzu, shoyu, and enough soy milk or water to make a batter like that for pancakes. Break nori into small pieces and stir into batter. Allow nori to absorb moisture while you cut and add the onion. Batter starts like thin pancake batter and evolves into a gooey mass. Don't panic! To fry, pick out small amounts with chopsticks, fork or fingers. Deep fry 2-3 pieces at a time until golden brown and crisp on both sides. Drain and serve immediately as appetizers (serves 8) or as a main dish with rice (serves 4).

Tempura Dip

1/4-1/2 c shoyu
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1 tsp grated ginger
2 Tbsp rice syrup
Water

Crush and sauté garlic and ginger in oil about 30 seconds. Add rice syrup and shoyu. Add water to desired consistency and simmer about 5 minutes.

Roast nori in an oven at 200° and break up with your hands, a suribachi, a blender, or a flour mill. Beat approximately 2 1/2 cups water into 1 cup wholewheat pastry flour in a mixing bowl to form a very thin batter. Add a pinch of sea salt and 1/3 cup nori flakes. Mix again, and set aside for thirty minutes. Brush a small amount of refined sesame oil on a flat frying pan or crepe pan. Heat pan and pour on a small amount of the batter to evenly cover the surface, tilting the pan to form a round shape. Cook one side of the crepe then flip over and briefly cook the other side. Remove the crepe, put on a large plate and cover with a cloth to keep soft. Repeat the process.

To fill crepes, spread 2 tablespoons of filling across each crepe, roll and serve. Filling: combine 1 cup grated carrot, 2 tablespoons natural mustard, 1 teaspoon tamari, 1 tablespoon water, and mix well.

Nori may be cooked with vegetable dishes. Make lentil soup with nori, using onions, garlic, carrots, celery, parsley, sage, and bay leaf. Start with the nori and herbs in water first. Add lentils and chopped vegetables. Cook until nori and lentils are tender. Add tamari to taste. Enjoy!

Oven roast 1 cup nori at 200° until very crunchy and crumble it up. Heat 2 tablespoons refined sesame oil in a skillet and sauté one cup scallions or onions for 2-3 minutes. Add nori and one cup matchstick carrots. Sauté 5 minutes. Add two cups cooked rice, one tablespoon minced ginger. Cook on a low heat until warm throughout. Season with tamari and add 1/2 cup roasted, sliced hazelnuts.

Digitata kelp grows in the most turbulent surf conditions, just below the alaria zone. Even on a flat calm day, there is movement in a digitata bed. Harvesting digitata kelp from a low-sided boat is a bit like playing rodeo. Grab the plant below the many-bladed frond (just hold up your hand and imagine your hand is the frond and the short stipe is attached at your wrist) and hang on tight! while you saw away at the stipe with a serrated frozen food knife wrapped and bound with old wetsuit material so it's easy to grab and will float. Sometimes I feel my shoulder tugged in its socket, just like the cowboy hanging on to the lasso, roping calves. In my case, I have to watch out for breaking waves that can sink my boat. I'm playing at the edge of breakers, all the time. When the little eight foot boat is full (about eight bushels), I row back to the container boat and transfer the load. On a good new moon tide (a tide that goes out a foot lower than average low water), I will manage to do this five or six times.

Because digitata grows in such turbulence, it is not damaged by snails. As the summer goes on, digitata becomes sweet with mannitol sugar, and sometimes this sugar comes to surface as the plants dry. Not many plants can remain sweet without succumbing to pests. I admire digitata kelp for maintaining its own gentle sweet nature in a world of turbulence. May we all be so.

If I had to choose one variety of kelp for my kitchen, I would choose digitata kelp. This may be substituted into any recipe calling for kombu, for digitata's cooking qualities are much the same. Reconstituted and cooked for fifteen minutes, digitata behaves like a vegetable and becomes softer. Cooked for an hour or more, digitata dissolves and creates a delicious creamy soup stock that the Japanese would call dashi. Just add ginger and tamari. The alginates that are released from the digitata through long cooking are able to bind (chelate) with the large molecules of heavy metals and radioactive isotopes and remove them from the body. Moreover, digitata contains iodine which nourishes and protects the thyroid so that it will not absorb radioactive iodine. My skin always gets softer when I handle digitata which is oozing with slippery alginates. Its softening effects on the body are obvious.

When I make soup with digitata kelp, I start by filling the soup pot half full of water, turning up the heat, and adding barley, a slice of fresh ginger root, and a few square inches of digitata, cut into small pieces. I add dried shiitake mushrooms. After they rehydrate, I take them out and cut them into small pieces, then throw them back in the pot. I sauté a diced onion with plenty of thyme in refined sesame oil, and I set that aside. I slice root crops like carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, beets, and turnips. When the barley is beginning to soften, I add the roots, and I turn my attention to cutting up greens: celery, kale, and parsley are always good candidates. When the barley and roots are almost done to perfection, I add the greens and the sautéed onions for about three minutes and cover the pot. I salt to taste with Eden brand shoyu soy sauce because it doesn't contain alcohol preservative, far as I can tell. This soup improves on the second day, and I usually add more parsley or scallions each time that I heat it up. It just keeps getting greener and richer.

Soak 1 cup of beans overnight with a 2" x 3" piece of digitata. Pressure cook 1 hour or simmer all day, adding seasonal vegetables when the beans are soft. Try burdock, carrots, celeriac, shiitake mushrooms, onions, celery, parsley, summer savory. Season with sea salt, miso, or tamari.

1 Tbsp light sesame oil
6" piece digitata, soaked and cut into thin strips
Pinch cayenne pepper
Shoyu
Mirin
1 small leek, thinly sliced on diagonal
1/2 c daikon, sliced in fine matchsticks
1/2 c carrot, sliced in fine matchsticks
1/2 c rounds of thinly sliced lotus root
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 sprigs parsley, minced

Heat oil in deep skillet. Stir in digitata and cayenne pepper. Add generous splashes of shoyu and mirin. Sauté 2-3 minutes. Stir in leek with a dash of shoyu and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in root vegetables and season lightly with shoyu. Stir-fry until carrots are crisp-tender (3-4 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and parsley.