Toasted Nori Snacks with Smoked Trout and Avocado

Everyone has been told to "eat your greens," but today, I'm going to go one step beyond and tell you to eat your sea greens.

Yup, sea greens, better known as sea vegetables or seaweed. Tasty, right?

If you're cringing right now, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you more than likely eat it already. If you've eaten sushi, enjoyed Asian soup, or eat any processed food, where processed forms of seaweed are often used as a thickener or stabilizer, then you've eaten seaweed.

So, why not just eat kale or maybe a tomato or something? Because sea vegetables grown in a completely different environment, the array of nutrients found within is completely different from what's found in vegetables grown on land. Of special note, seaweed contains all the minerals humans need in much higher concentrations then what's found in land vegetables. In the case of land vegetables, if you don't like one, for the most part, you can replace it by eating something similar or simply a wide variety of other plants. But there's nothing else on earth that contains the unique nutrition of sea vegetables.

Iodine

Sea vegetables are the richest food source of iodine. In fact, one 10-calorie serving contains 500% your daily needs, so including it just once a week is a great way to ensure you're getting adequate amounts. Iodine is critically important for thyroid health, a gland mainly responsible for our metabolism. Many plant-based foods contain small amounts of iodine, but the foods that contain more significant amounts are seafood, dairy and eggs. Iodine is also found in iodized table salt, which contributes a significant amount of iodine to the typical American diet. Following a plant-based diet and not adding a ton of salt to your food is a good thing, but it can leave the door open for inadequate iodine intake. In this case, it's especially crucial to include a regular dose of iodine-rich sea veggies.

Iron

Most types of sea vegetables contain a considerable amount of iron. Because sea veggies also contain vitamin C, which enhances absorption of iron, it's an even better source of bioavailable iron.

Frucoidans

Frucoidans are starch-like molecules with powerful anti-inflammatory action. Frucoidans block another molecule that allows for the transmission of inflammatory signals. Because of these frucoidans, sea vegetables are often used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases like arthritis and to promote cardiovascular health. This molecule also displays anti-viral activity and studies have shown it can help prevent replication of HIV and herpes simpex 1 and 2 virus.

Vanadium

Sea vegetables contain vanadium, a mineral that plays a role in bone health and blood sugar control. Some animal studies and small human trials have shown the mineral makes the body more sensitive to insulin and can increase the bodies ability to store excess glucose as glycogen. Most of these studies were done with large dose supplements of vanadium, which does not appear to be safe, so it's unclear if the smaller amount found in seaweed has the same effects. But even without vanadium, being a nutrient dense food, rich in fiber and low in starch and sugar, seaweed is blood sugar friendly anyway.

There are many types of edible sea vegetables, including arame, kombu and wakame, but nori, the type of seaweed used for sushi, is the easiest to find. I especially love the toasted nori snacks, packs of bite sized sheets of toasted nori, the perfect little snack for when you want something salty and crunchy. Filling snack, however, it is not. I can go through a bag in about 15 seconds.

To make the snacks substantial enough to last me until my next meal, I like to use them to make a quick sushi handroll. I usually mix and match the ingredients based on what I have on hand, but I try to include at least one source of protein and/or fat to keep it filling. If you're looking for a preworkout snack, make sure you include some type of high fiber carbohydrate, like a cooked whole grain.

The "recipe"  I'm sharing is my favorite combination, with smoked trout (another omega 3 rich fish), crunchy raw veggies and creamy avocado. And of course, who could forget the srircha, a crucial ingredient if you ask me! If you're packing the snack for work, pack all the sushi ingredients together and store the nori sheets separately. Or, mix the filling ingredients together and crumble in the nori sheets to make a little salad. Not as cute, but it tastes the same! Here are a few other filling combinations to experiment with:

brown rice + avocado + sriracha
edamame spread + hot sauce
mango + cucumber + guacamole
smoked salmon + quinoa + scallions
hummus + shredded carrots
avocado + steamed asparagus + arugula + pickled ginger

Toasted Nori Snacks with Smoked Trout and Avocado

Toasted nori sheets
Julienned cucumber
Avocado slices
Smoked trout (or smoked salmon), in chunks
Sriracha (or other hot sauce)

Lay nori sheets out flat on a plate. Place cucumber, avocado and a chunk of smoked trout in the center. Top with a drop of sriracha. Loosely roll and enjoy.