We all know how good sea vegetables are for us, but if it weren’t for the nori-wrapped  vegetable sushi, many of us would never eat any sea vegetables at all.

Before I went vegan many years ago, I was macrobiotic for a year or two.  It was during that time that I came to appreciate — not exactly love, mind you, but appreciate — the goodness of sea vegetables beyond nori.  Of all the varieties, from arame to wakame, it was only dulse that I actually liked. 

Reddish in color, dulse is different from other sea vegetables in other ways too.  It has a unique flavor that is almost smoky-salty and best of all — it gets crisp and I daresay quite tasty when fried.  Here’s the weirdest part of all:  when fried, it almost tastes bacony.  So much so that I’m including a DLT sandwich in my next cookbook.

For now, however, you must be wondering about those odd-looking nuggets in the photo.  Over the weekend, it occurred to me that crispy-smoky dulse would pair nicely with creamy and delicious avocado.  Rather than wrapping avocado in large pieces of dulse, which I thought might overpower the delicate avocado, I instead dredged bite-sized pieces of avocado in dulse flakes and fried them in a thin layer of olive oil.  Crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, these little bites are delicious when served hot, just out of the skillet. 

Granted, they probably aren’t to everyone’s taste, but if you like avocados and dulse (or are at least open to trying dulse) these make an easy and unusual nibble.

Tofu Coupon Giveaway Winner:  The winner of a coupon for a free package of Nasoya TofuPlus is:  Rikki Cupcake!!  Rikki: e-mail me with your mailing address and I’ll mail the coupon right out to you.

Tomorrow:  Look for the winner of the Vegan on the Cheap Giveaway to be announced.  There’s still time to enter (before midnight tonight EST).