Ogo Seaweed Salad

Now, a note about the key ingredient: red ogo seaweed. Red ogo is a type of Limu (LEE-moo), which is the Hawaiian word for seaweed. Unfortunately, outside of Hawaii, red ogo may be extremely difficult to find (I purchased mine fresh at a local market in Maui, froze it and hand carried it on a plane with some dry ice back to San Francisco for those moments when you just want that taste of the islands and nothing else will do....). But there are actually many kinds of edible limu and they are all great additions to salads, sandwiches, poke......I have even occasionally seen it in dried form! So, if you can find this gem, use it! And if you can't, the salad will still be yummy without it but you may want to add a little salt to taste (since the seaweed is what adds a naturally salty flavor to the salad).

You can make variations on this salad if you wish--I made the regular recipe with the tomatoes and then a version without tomatoes and I just added in more carrot shreds.

INGREDIENTS FOR DRESSING:

* 1/2 cup white vinegar
* 3 T. soy sauce
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 2 tsp. sesame oil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted

INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD:

* 1/4 cup red ogo seaweed
* 2 vine-ripened tomatoes (or 5 or 6 smaller campari tomatoes), chopped
* 1/2 cucumber, halved and deseeded (or one thin japanese cucumber)
* 1/2 carrot, shredded or julienne
* 1/4 red onion, minced finely

DIRECTIONS:

* Mix all dressing ingredients together.
* In a separate bowl, mix all salad ingredients together.
* Pour dressing over salad mixture, cover and refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes to let the veggies soak up the marinade!

Serve chilled.

Enjoy!