Not Your Parents' Granola

During my trip to Toronto last summer I excitedly picked up some kelp noodles at Panacea (the vegan store). But then they just languished in my fridge for months. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them and I had to wait until I was having dinner on my own because, although Dave is good about trying new things, I knew kelp noodles were way too hippie for him.

So finally, a few weeks ago, Dave had to help his parents move and I was looking in the fridge for something quick and easy to have for dinner. I opened up the noodles and rinsed them off. My first taste was really disappointing. They were quite crunchy, pleasantly crunchy, but not at all like ‘real’ noodles. But then I read online that they soften up a lot if you soak them in a liquid that has some acid in it. So I whipped up a super simple almond butter sauce, poured it over the noodles and let them soak for about 5 minutes. After soaking they had visibly shrunken down quite a bit so I was excited to taste them. And sure enough they were much softer and had a remarkable resemblance to regular noodles. They were really yummy!

I should also note that I really don’t like seaweed and I didn’t find these had a sea taste at all. So don’t let that scare you off!

I’m pretty sure that I have seen these in Ottawa now. I think at either Market Organics or Herb and Spice on Bank.

Almond Butter Kelp Noodles

2 tbs rice vinegar
2 tbs almond butter
1 tbs tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp agave syrup
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 package kelp noodles

some steamed veggies (bell pepper, cabbage, broccoli and kale would all be great)

Rise the kelp noodles and cut into bite sized pieces. Mix the sauce ingredients together and pour over noodles. Let sit for 5 minutes while you steam your other veggies. Add veggies to noodles, toss it all together and enjoy!