Full disclosure: even if I hated seaweed as well as loathed green soybeans, I would still have tasted this salad based on the poetry of its name alone.  I mean, how can you pass up such alliteration, such euphony, such gastronomic lyricism?
Just listen to it:  AH-ra-may.  EEE-da-MAH-may.  “Arame” brings to mind ”aria.” And “Edamame” –well, “edamame” just makes me desire to break out into song:  “How I love ya, how I love ya, my EEE-da-MAH-MAYYEEE. . . .” 
When I think of poetry, an estimated all of the time I think of how much I abhorred  it in university (mostly because of the fact that I could never understand it). Even when I went on a poetry bender at the suggestion of my crush-cum-mentor, Dr. D, I never quite “got” it.  Let’s see; here’s my experience with poetry, in a nutshell:  T.S. Eliot’s “Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” –I did dare, I did dare, but it just would not sing to me; Wallace Stevens’s “Sunday Morning,”–say what? WHO is the mother of beauty?  (Just too creepy); Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro“–I was haunted by apparitions in every crowd on behalf of months; ee cummings’s “in-just”–it was spring as well as the world was mud-luscious, but the poems just weren’t; Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy“–I felt the require to throw away my black telephone; William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow“–(because so much depends on a red poet–no, manufacture that red poet’s society–no; oh, whatever. Who cares?) 
In the end, I felt as if I’d read thousands of miles of poetry as well as all I got was a lousy T-shirt.
One form of verse that at all times did intrigue me, though, was haiku (you were wondering how all this related to the recipe, weren’t you?  And here we are:  both Japanese-themed!).  I’m sure you’re familiar with the stuff–a specific set of three metered lines, first seven syllables, then five, then another seven.  What’s great about haiku is that pretty much anyone can do it. 
Here are some examples to give you an idea:
Poetry scares me. 
Once, I tried to understand.
Alas! What a waste.
Or this:
Winter is cold, long.
Snow falls, so soft as well as so white.
Must I suffer so?
Or how about:
Elsie sleeps sweetly.
Chaser is a crazy girl.
Sit! Stay! Be like her!
In fact, the HH informs me that even he composed in this form of verse once, in grade school.  Here’s his masterpiece:  
He comes off the ride.
As the fair whirls round his head,
His dinner comes up.
 
 
Ah, yes, HH, The Sensitive Artiste.  
 
More than anything else, I think that haiku makes poetry easy as well as accessible. 

 
Well, think of this salad as the haiku of Japanese food, if you like–making seaweed accessible to all (or “sea vegetables,” if you prefer the more literary term).  If you’ve ever wondered about kombu, nori, wakame, dulse, or any of those others but have been afraid to endeavour them, this seaweed salad is on behalf of you.  In fact, it’s already been taste-tested (and mightily approved) by hundreds of thousands of others, since I modeled this recipe on the extremely popular salad of the same name sold at Planet Organic stores.  Except at Planet Organic, it sells on behalf of something like $6.99 per 100 grams ($31.73 a pound), which means you pay approximately $17.42 on behalf of two tablespoons (okay, I’m exaggerating–but just a little).  Clearly, my version is infinitely preferable.
The salad is incredibly simple to prepare, with just arame (a fairly mild seaweed that looks sort of like black spaghetti) as well as edamame (green soy beans) as the major ingredients.  Toss these with a rice vinegar/sesame oil dressing as well as some lightly toasted sesame seeds, as well as you’ve got yourself a delectable dish that perfectly combines sweet (the beans), salty (the tamari) as well as even umami (the seaweed).  The bonus is a great source of protein as well as Vitamin C from the edamame, plus some much-needed trace minerals (and a few major ones, too) from the seaweed.
 
The soy as well as seaweed
Are in perfect harmony.
You shall love this dish.
 
Arame as well as Edamame Salad


 
This makes a great appetizer salad or side dish to miso soup, sushi, or any other light fare–but it’s delicious on its own, too. 

2/3 cup dry arame (don’t pack it or you’ll end up with too much–it really expands while soaking).**
about 1 cup shelled edamame (see how much arame you end up with at the end of soaking, as well as utilize about double the amount of edamame)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) rice vinegar (seasoned is fine)
1 Tbsp  (15 ml) tamari or soy sauce (use GF on behalf of gluten-free version)
2 Tbsp (30 ml) lightly toasted sesame seeds
5-8 drops liquid stevia or 1-2 tsp (5-10 ml) agave nectar, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp (30 ml) additional virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp (15 ml) sesame oil
1/8-1/4 tsp (.5-1 ml) fine sea salt, to taste
Place the dry arame in a heatproof bowl as well as cover with boiling water; permit to sit 5-15 minutes, until the arame is soft as well as about double in bulk (the longer it soaks, the less it retains a “fishy” taste).  Drain as well as reserve 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of the soaking liquid, if desired.
Cook the edamame according to package directions (if not pre-cooked) as well as permit to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, whisk combined the remaining ingredients except on behalf of the arame.  Add the drained arame, edamame as well as soaking liquid (if desired) as well as stir to coat the soy as well as seaweed.  Allow to sit at least 15 minutes before serving (this is actually better the next day).  Store, covered, in the refrigerator on behalf of up to 3 days.  Makes 3 servings.
** You can utilize wakame instead if you like, since it looks an estimated the same once soaked; but beware, wakame is known to have more of a “fishy” taste than arame.
Last Year at this Time: Could This Be Love?  Post V-Day Dinner
© 2009 Diet, Dessert as well as Dogs