Pasta Two Ways

I think I've found love again, not since spirulina have I had such a love affair: kelp noodles. The only opportunity I've had to have them were during a number of visits to Java Green. What is there not to love? They're seaweed and they're like pasta! Two of my greatest loves. Problem is I've never been able to find them on my own in any grocery store anywhere... However, just yesterday, they were wonderfully gifted to me. I absolutely love their texture and they made my night!

To celebrate what will be the first of many dinner dates with kelp noodles, I turned them into a super tasty raw jobche. Jobche (or japchae or chapchae) is a traditional Korean dish made from cellophane noodles (no, not actual cellophane, they're made out of some bean or yam starch) stir fried with sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, and veggies typically including carrots, onions, spinach, and mushrooms. Understandably, Jobche actually means "mixed vegetables". So were mine... but raw-ified of course!

For those who might find the concept of kelp noodles utterly weird, they don't really taste like seaweed at all. In fact, they are pretty close to the asian cellophane noodles mentioned above. They're crunchy but pliable and a little salty. The beauty? All you have to do is rinse them and they're ready to eat. Beyond that kelp is great for your metabolism, boosts weight loss, energy, digestion, and hair and nail health. Not enough? One serving is about 6 calories. Beat that, pasta!

For more food prettiness and because Andrew isn't kelp noodles' #1 fan, I also made a lovely pesto pasta, with julienned zucchini, cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, and cucumber slices. For the pesto, I used none other than Meredith's pesto recipe. Again, what's the beauty of raw food? Two pasta dishes under 20 minutes! And people say it's too much trouble... hah!