On this St. Patrick’s Day, add a special touch with sea vegetables

Ireland is known for its gorgeous landscape — and root vegetables. But, as St. Patrick’s Day approaches, Beth Dooley is thinking about the flavors of the sea that crashes on the shores of the Emerald Isle.

Dooley, author of “In Winter’s Kitchen,” recently returned from a trip to Ireland, where she noticed a trend of restaurant serving sea vegetables — or seaweed. While there, she enjoyed a savory seaweed ice cream and other briney dishes.

Sea vegetables are good for you can can add a special flavor to St. Paddy’s favorites like soda bread, she said. She shared her recipe for Irish soda bread with seaweed.

Listen to the full conversation by clicking play on the audio player above and check out Beth Dooley’s recipe below.

Irish soda bread with seaweed

Makes 1 large or 3 small loaves, freezes nicely

Ingredients

• 3-1/3 cups whole wheat flour

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 large egg

• 1 tablespoon melted butter

• 1 teaspoon honey

• 1-2/3 cups buttermilk

• 1/4 cup crushed dried seaweed (dulce or other sea veggies), optional

• 1 to 2 tablespoons of melted butter for brushing over the dough

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt and baking soda.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, butter, honey and buttermilk.

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the liquid ingredients. Mix well, adding more buttermilk if it seems too dry; the dough should be soft. Work in the seaweed if using and then knead the dough several times and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and pat into a large round loaf or divide into 3 smaller loaves. Brush the dough with melted butter.

Bake the large loaf for about 50 minutes to 1 hour and the smaller loaves for 35 to 45 minutes. The bread should be crusty and browned and sound hollow when tapped.

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