Wakame Seaweed Salad with Cucumber, Avocado, and Tahini-Sesame Dressing
A 10-minute, Japanese-inspired side: silky wakame and arame seaweeds tossed with crisp cucumber, creamy avocado, scallions, cilantro, and toasted sesame in a rich, nutty tahini-sesame dressing. It's a mineral-rich bowl, with significant iodine in a single serving.
Japanese-inspired
Yield: Serves 4 · Active: 10 min · Total: 25 min · Year-round (cucumbers peak in North America in summer) · Best eaten: midday or early evening
Ingredients
Salad
¼ cup dried wakame
¼ cup dried arame
1 large cucumber (or 3 Persian cucumbers), thinly sliced or julienned
1 ripe avocado, diced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
Tahini-sesame dressing
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp coconut aminos
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tsp ume plum vinegar
½ tsp red pepper flakes, to taste
Optional: 1 tsp freshly grated ginger and a squeeze of lime
2–3 tbsp filtered water, to thin
Baja Gold sea salt, to taste (the ume vinegar and coconut aminos are already salty, so taste first)
Optional add-ins
1 cup shredded purple cabbage, for crunch and color
1 green apple, julienned, for sweet-tart crispness
4 radishes, thinly sliced
1 carrot, shaved into ribbons
2 tbsp hemp seeds, for protein
2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
Method
Soak the seaweed. Soak the wakame and arame in cool water for 5–10 minutes, until tender. Drain, rinse, and gently squeeze out the excess water, then roughly chop.
Make the dressing. Whisk all the dressing ingredients, adding water until it's pourable. Taste, then add salt only if it needs it.
Toss. In a large bowl, combine the seaweed, cucumber, scallions, cilantro, sesame seeds, and any add-ins. Pour the dressing over the top and toss well.
Add the avocado. Gently fold in the avocado just before serving, so it stays creamy and doesn't brown.
Serve right away, or chill 15 minutes to let the flavors meld (add the avocado after chilling).
Variation: Superfood Slaw
For a heartier, slaw-style salad, start with ½ small head purple cabbage, finely shredded, and add the soaked wakame (skip the arame), 1 julienned green apple, 1 diced avocado, ¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds, and 3 tbsp hemp seeds. Dress it with 3 tbsp coconut aminos, 2 tbsp fresh lime juice, 1 tbsp ume plum vinegar, 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger, and ½ tsp each garlic powder and onion powder. Toss, let it rest 10 minutes, then fold in the avocado.
Storage
The dressed salad keeps refrigerated up to 1 day, though the texture softens (add the avocado fresh). The dressing keeps up to 1 week, and it's lovely on quick salads and roasted vegetables.
A note on iodine: Wakame and arame are very rich in iodine, which is wonderful in moderation. If you have a thyroid condition, check with your practitioner about how much seaweed is right for you.
Nourishment Notes
This is a quick dose of minerals in side-dish form. Wakame is a brown seaweed rich in iodine, calcium, and magnesium, along with fucoxanthin (a carotenoid found in brown seaweeds) and fucoidan, a unique sulfated polysaccharide. Arame brings a mild, sweet flavor and more iodine, calcium, and iron. Seaweed has long been an everyday food in Japan, most famously in miso soup. Cucumbers are about 95% water, with silica, potassium, and vitamin K. Together, they're a simple example of food as medicine: hydration and minerals in ten minutes.
The dressing does real work, too. Tahini brings calcium, magnesium, copper, and sesame lignans (sesamin and sesamolin), studied for their antioxidant effects. Toasted sesame oil and seeds add more lignans and a warm, nutty depth. Ume plum vinegar is the salty, tart brine left from pickling umeboshi plums with shiso leaves, and it gives the dressing its distinctive tang. If you can't find it, raw apple cider vinegar with a pinch of salt works. Coconut aminos add savory depth and are soy-free and gluten-free.
Avocado — monounsaturated fats, potassium, folate, and fiber, plus it helps your body absorb the seaweed's fat-soluble carotenoids.
Scallions and cilantro — quercetin, vitamin K, and vitamin C.
Hemp seeds (if using) — complete plant protein, magnesium, and a favorable ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats (about 1:3).
As a side dish, this salad pairs beautifully with grilled or baked fish, especially wild salmon or mackerel, where the seaweed's iodine and the fish's omega-3s and selenium work together.
For your cycle: Seaweed's iodine supports healthy thyroid function, which in turn supports a healthy cycle, and the tahini and avocado bring magnesium. This light, fresh salad is lovely in every phase.
Sourcing
Wakame and arame — wild-harvested and sun-dried, with no additives, and ideally tested for heavy metals, like Eden Foods (from Japan). For North American seaweed, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables sells Atlantic wakame (alaria), harvested by hand off the coast of Maine (arame grows only in Asian waters). Skip mass-market seaweed salads, which are often dyed bright green.
Cucumbers — organic, from a farmers' market or your garden in season. Persian and Beit Alpha varieties have thin skins and few seeds, perfect for this salad.
Avocados — organic and ripe (avocados grow in warm climates, so they're shipped in to northern regions)
Scallions and cilantro — organic, from a farmers' market or your windowsill (scallion root ends regrow in a glass of water within a week)
Sesame seeds — organic, from a source with good turnover, like Kevala; bulk-bin sesame seeds are often rancid
Tahini — stone-ground and made from just sesame, like Soom or Seed + Mill
Coconut aminos — organic and soy-free, with no added sugar or thickeners, like Coconut Secret
Toasted sesame oil — organic and cold-pressed, deep amber and fragrant, in glass, like Eden Foods
Raw apple cider vinegar — organic, with the mother (Bragg)
Ume plum vinegar — made with just umeboshi plums, shiso, and sea salt, like Eden Foods
Optional add-ins — organic cabbage, apples, radishes, and carrots; organic hemp and sunflower seeds
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt; Maldon for finishing
— Anna aka Food Marshall