The Kind Diet book by Alicia Silverstone doesn't hit stores until Fall, but you don't have to wait until then to get a taste of her vegan tips. A common qualm about veganism is that meals are time-consuming, but this famous vegan implied that doesn't have to be true and said, "One of the recipes in my book is leftover nori (a type of seaweed) wraps. Anything in the fridge I want to use up, I shove into nori. It's delicious."
Alicia sells the perks of seaweed by saying, "It makes your skin look amazing and your hair really strong," but the benefits of including seaweed in your diet are more than skin-deep. The sea vegetable is an excellent source of essential minerals like iodine, vitamin K, B-vitamins, magnesium, iron, and calcium.
You can usually find packages of nori in the Asian food section of your supermarket. It comes in thin sheets, making it ideal for wrapping, and Alicia has shown us that it's not just for wrapping raw fish.
On a recent trip to Berkeley, I discovered my new favorite destination: the Berkeley Bowl Marketplace. At this independent supermarket, I tasted previously unheard-of fruits and chose between 10 different varieties of carrots. There was also an abundant selection of dried seaweed on display. While I love nori — the dried seaweed that's used in sushi — I wasn't so sure about consuming these dried versions.
Agar Agar
Sometimes called Japanese gelatin, this is a natural vegetarian replacement for gelatin. Made from dried tasteless seaweed, it's widely used in Asia as a setting agent. Stronger than gelatin, it can be found in block, powder, strand, or flake form.
