Kelp noodles with almond-miso sauce, or The Great Kelp Noodle Discovery

Kelp noodles .... nutritious, fresh, fun and with the five-year-old's seal of approval. I'm not sure we could have picked a better new food to try.

A friend of mine recently started a raw food diet, and when I got the opportunity to split a case of kelp noodles with her, I jumped at the chance. Trying a new food is a beautiful thing, and when it’s this healthy for you, it makes it all the more exciting. No-carb noodles with all the nutrition of a sea vegetable and can be served like your favorite pasta? Yes, please.

They are so easy to use too — just rinse and plop in your recipe. You can heat them through, as I did here or just use them cold or room temperature. I’m not sure there’s a wrong way to eat kelp noodles. There’s another positive — they’re a forgiving food.

Speaking of forgiving … I ate “pasta” and didn’t leave the table bloated — score!

We bought some salmon to eat with the kelp noodles, so I went with some flavors I love combining with that flaky, oily, heavenly little pink fish — garlic, ginger, miso, lime juice, sesame oil. The recipe just created itself from there (based on what I had in the house) and this nutritious, vegetarian dish was born.

Kelp Noodles with Almond-Miso Sauce

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Ingredients:

12-ounce package of kelp noodles
1 huge broccoli floret, chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
sesame seeds for sprinkling
red pepper flakes to taste
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons almond butter
1 teaspoon miso
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon lime juice

Saute the broccoli and the onion until tender and golden. Add the kelp noodles and heat through.

Meanwhile, whisk all of the sauce ingredients together.

Add the sauce to the broccoli and kelp noodle mixture and quickly heat through. Remove from heat and sprinkle in sesame seeds, cilantro and red pepper flakes.

The less you heat the noodles, the more you’ll probably like them, at least that’s what we found. They are pretty wonderful no matter what, but the longer you cook them, the more rubbery they become, whereas fresh from the package they have a delightful crunch. (The five-year-old called it a “pop.”)

Owen, by the way, loved these noodles (you’ll notice the dot of sauce on the tip of his nose — consider that proof), and if you’re a savvy parent, you won’t cut them to your desired size as the package suggests. No, your desired size will be the long, slurpy strings that make your kid grin from ear to ear.