Nori Quinoa Salad

We are avid sushi fans and love to eat nori when it’s wrapped around seasoned rice and fish or veggies. But lately, toasted seaweed has emerged as a go-to snack on its own, which got me thinking beyond the sushi bar. Nori is a wonderful sea vegetable. It contains protein, fiber and vitamins, plus it tastes good! So working more seaweed into our meals is an easy decision.


With fall’s arrival, a hearty grain salad is ideal for supper. I’ve made a warm rice salad with spinach several times, the hot grains wilting the fresh spinach just enough. This last time, though, I tossed in some toasted nori along with the spinach. I quickly discovered that nori sticks together in a mass when it hits the heat! So I made a pot of quinoa and tried again, this time adding small squares of nori and stirring to blend it in without clumping. Success!

Carrot ribbons, sliced green onions, sesame seeds and cooked salmon went into the bowl next. This salad is one of those “bits and bobs” recipes, where you can toss in any leftover veggies like broccoli or peppers, or another protein such as tofu or chicken. A lively dressing of lemon juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce and ginger finishes the salad.

The salad components can be prepared ahead of time, allowing you to toss and serve it quickly for a weeknight supper. Full of texture and flavor, you get a little taste of the sea in every bite.

Nori Quinoa Salad
Serves 4

1 tablespoon grapeseed or other neutral oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups cooked quinoa (I used a mix of red and white), kept warm or reheated
5 sheets of nori, toasted and torn into strips or squares
6 ounces fresh spinach, rinsed and roughly chopped
4 ounces carrots, grated or peeled into ribbons
1 bunch of green onions, sliced
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted (I used a mix of white and black)
1 cup cooked or smoked salmon, flaked (optional)

Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and black pepper. Place the warm quinoa in a large serving bowl. Add the squares of nori a few at a time, gently stirring to wilt them and being careful that they don’t clump up. Add all the spinach and stir to wilt, too. Mix in the carrots, green onions, sesame seeds and salmon and then drizzle the dressing over and toss gently. Serve warm.

Plum Chutney and Moving to the Methow

We are well into August and it has been an exciting, busy month for our family. We moved! This is a recent decision, inspired by a desire for a bit of change with my older son, Sam, leaving for college. For the past two years, we’ve been coming to our little cabin in the Methow Valley for long weekends and school breaks. We love our time here and, more and more, are drawn to this stunning, rural area.

With Sam’s departure to the University of Oregon, we are in a natural period of transition and we thought this might be an ideal time to shake things up. So Bob, Isaac and I decided to reverse our Seattle-Methow Valley balance and live in our cabin full-time, with Seattle reserved for long weekends and school breaks. This lead to a flurry of activity as we rapidly shifted our lives to this magical place for the coming year and enrolled Isaac at the local high school.

We are now all tucked into our tiny house high on a hillside, surrounded by sage brush and open land. The chickens arrived last week and the move feels complete.

Our new daily life includes dirt roads, deer peeking in our windows and a chorus of coyotes and crickets at night. I’m loving every moment.

There’s a vibrant food scene here in the valley with an abundance of farms and orchards, weekly markets, a winery and a cider house. Eating and drinking local is quite delicious. At the market, plums are spilling over with their intoxicating fragrance and in various shades of red, black and even sunshine yellow. We are devouring them by the pound, enjoying their juicy goodness.

To celebrate the abundance of plums, I made chutney. Chutney is a marvelous condiment with an explosion of flavors – sweet and savory, spicy and tangy. Ginger, garlic, chili, vinegar, raisins and honey combine with the deep sweetness of plums beautifully. Quick to make, this chutney turns a rosy shade of magenta, adding a colorful splash alongside grilled fish or chicken.

I’m having fun cooking in the cabin kitchen, finding new rhythms and embracing this time. Sam and Isaac are starting their new schools soon and we are off on an adventure. As I step into this next chapter of our lives, I’m grateful for the opportunity and can’t wait to see what this year will bring.

Plum Chutney
Makes just over 2 cups

2 ½ pounds plums (any color, I used a mix of red and black), pitted and roughly chopped
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup raisins
1 teaspoon crushed red chile pepper
3 tablespoons fresh mint, slivered

Combine all of the ingredients except the mint in a large sauce pan. Stir and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, until syrupy and thickened. Stir often to prevent sticking or scorching and lower heat if necessary. When the chutney is cooked to your liking, remove from the heat, stir in the fresh mint and let cool. Store in the fridge for up to a month.