In the west, beans have been traditionally flavored with salt pork. In the east, kelp or kombu, has been used. The healthy and vegetarian choice is, of course, kelp.

Why
1. Provides minerals, trace elements and phytonutrients without fat calories or cholesterol.

2. Helps beans cook faster and be more digestible.

3. Melts into and thickens the bean sauce, adding rich flavor.

4. Allows reduction of added salt without sacrificing taste.

How
1. Choose any dry bean (including slow–cooking dried legumes like peas, lentils, chickpeas) and your favorite bean cooking method.

2. As you bring the beans to a boil add Kelp (one 5″ strip, about ¼ of a 2 oz bag). Continue cooking and adding your choice of other ingredients as per your recipe. The kelp will melt into the bean sauce.

3. Or, if you’re cooking bean soup – minestrone, split pea, black bean, lentil, lima – lightly rinse and chop or cut kelp into bite sized pieces.

You’ll get all the nutrition and subtle taste mentioned above.

So, if you are already a bean eater you can become a seaweed eater with virtually no extra effort!