Kelp Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing (Um, I may have a yarn "problem" plus we go hither and yon)

It was only a matter of time before "kelp" entered this blog. Last month, DH and I were searching for a vegan eatery in St. Louis. Finding a vegan restaurant in STL is very simple--there are only a handful. I overwhelm easily, so it's a win-win for me in deciding. We were near Forest Park, PuraVegan was ohsoclose. So that settled it for us. This isn't a restaurant review post, but if it were, major kudos would be handed out. I decided to have a kelp noodle salad. Dr. Thyme had the vegan burger. (No surprise there.) What happened next changed my eating for about two weeks. Kelp was all I could think about. Kelp was all I wanted. 

Kelp isn't going to win any beauty pageants. It is a seaweed after all. However, kelp packs a nutritional boost and is a good source of magnesium, calcium, iron and fiber. Pair it with any sauce, dressing or marinade and you will find it utterly indistinguishable from any other "noodle" you're used to. Kelp is nutritionally a phenom and is being farmed in Maine. Who knew? I do now. Here's and excellent article on the matter.

I wanted to desperately recreate the salad I had a PuraVegan. I didn't quite have the same veggies on hand, but really, whatever you do have on hand will work. As is the case with all salad creations, it's not so much the veggie selection as it is the dressing. I've become quite adept at my own salad dressing creations if I don't say so myself.

I like to begin my salads with a big bowl, my cutting board and all the veggies in my fridge. This is what we had on hand: kale, romaine, radishes, carrots, cauliflower, apples, avocado, scallions. 

One thing you'll want to be sure to do is to rinse the kelp in a big bowl of water. Store the unused kelp in water in a closed container.

After that, you're on your way to salad magic. 

My spicy peanut dressing was straightforward and something we've been using over a lot of salad creations lately--the recipe is below. We loved, loved this salad. 

I bought my kelp at Whole Foods. 

Now onto the fiber news of the day. So my May Yarnbox subscription arrived. Always so giddy about my surprise yarn! Ta-da. . .

A beautiful yarn if ever there was--I loved it! A colorway called "Dalmation"--so cute. So canine. Gray, black and white--totally my colors. Problem: do I want to wear a "Dalmation" cowl, hat or shawl? This is one of those monthly yarn arrivals that I can honestly say surprised and delighted. 

I'm about a third of the way into knitting my Tappan Zee with my Happy Fuzzy Yarn from my Yarnbox from a couple months back. Don't you love the colorway? I would have never in a million years picked this yarn myself. And would much less never picture myself wearing a stripey dyed yarn. Never. Things change. Perhaps this is my over-fifty-I-don't-give-a-damn self talking.

I will be wearing this cardigan.

I am sort of a seeing a "problem" emerging. My little yarn stash/project list is getting a wee bit long. Like I'm beginning to think about the years I have left vs. the hours I have left to knit. No, I'm not dying or anything crazy like that, but just sort of concerned is all. There are worse problems to have I suppose. But NOT having yarn is a way worse scenario if you ask me. 

Dr. Thyme and I were out and about a lot during his vacay. We hit the Missouri Botanical Gardens. . . again! They're having a LEGO display called Nature Connects--creating nature sculptures from LEGOs. I remember LEGOs, but I remember my Barbie Doll collections more. This sounded like a fun exhibit. And it was. I made a collage of our selfies (Ha!) and incorporated a couple of my favorites: the eagle and the star-gazer lily (my absolute favorite flower). It was a perfect day for a walk through the gardens--rainy, so we literally almost had the place to ourselves. Perfect!

Kelp Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

For the Salad

First prep your kelp by placing it in a bowl of cold water. Rinse the kelp a few times. Keep the kelp in water while you prepare the rest of the salad. Place any vegetables you'd like to have in your salad in a large bowl. 

For the Spicy Peanut Dressing

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil or canola oil

2-3 tablespoons natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons agave

1 teaspoon hot sauce

dash of Braggs Liquid Aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)

Place in small bowl and whisk well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!