Most people’s nesting urge manifests in building cribs and cleaning out closets. Well, our crib is still in pieces and don’t even get me started on the state of the closets. However, this doesn’t mean that I haven’t acted on this inevitable preparative cleansing - mine just looks a little different. 33 weeks pregnant, and my nesting urge has translated to food. Stocking my pantry with the most superist of “super foods”. Filling my freezer with bone broth. Cooking the most nutrient dense meals I can imagine. It’s like I’m nesting, but INSIDE MY BODY. The closets will just have to wait.   

This dip was inspired by a recent diagnosis of pregnancy-related anemia. While animal sources are certainly an effective way of consuming high amounts of iron, as an ex-vegetarian, sometimes I just can’t quite stomach them. So, I turned to my pantry, recalled my nutrition education, and started pulling. Fortunately, in the back of my dusty sea vegetable stash, I found what I was looking for: dulse. 

Dulse is a reddish purple seaweed that grows wild in the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest and Atlantic oceans. In terms of flavor, dulse is definitely in the “advanced class” of sea vegetables. This salty, briny, umami-packed seaweed doesn’t leave much room for subtlety, but is also incredibly nutrient dense so that a little goes a long way.

Let’s start with iron. Per 14 gram serving, dulse flakes contain 8 milligrams of iron. To put this into perspective, 100 grams of steak contains less than 3 milligrams of iron. If that isn’t an impressive amount of iron, I’m not sure what is. Let’s move next to iodine. That same 14 gram serving contains 2.3 milligrams of iodine. Per day, adults need just 0.15 milligrams per day. It’s time to toss your iodized salt, and add a small pinch of dulse to meals instead. In addition, this sea vegetable is also an excellent source of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A, E, C, and B complex vitamins. 

Have I convinced you yet? Even if you’re not anemic, it’s worth having a bag of this stuff kicking around. You can purchase dulse in flake, powder, or frond form. I like to sprinkle it on popcorn, rice dishes, or use it to flavor soups and stews.

But back to the dip. 

In order to adequately absorb iron, vitamin C must be consumed in tandem. That’s where the roasted red peppers came in. As for bulk, here are the ingredients I used to pack as much of a nutritional punch that my pantry would allow. The result was one addictive, creamy, and healthy snack suitable for all of my nutritional needs.    

Cashews: The first time I saw a cashew tree in India, I couldn’t believe the amount of work that would be required to fill up a 16-ounce bag. These kidney shaped nuts (well, seeds, botanically speaking) each grow from the bottom of a single soft and fleshy fruit called the cashew apple, which is often discarded or made into jam or liquor. The cashews, a relative of poison ivy, are encased in a protective layer that contains multiple toxins; they therefore must be peeled and steamed or roasted before consumption (and apparently the smoke from roasting is quite toxic as well). All of a sudden, the steep $8.99/pound price tag seems like a steal.

Cashews contain more starch than other tree nuts, making them perfect to use as a thickener or base of a dip. They contain a relatively low fat content for nuts (about 47%), the majority of which being heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. They also boast high amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, and zinc. 

Nutritional Yeast: Fewer foods sounds less appealing than nutritional yeast (seriously, who named this stuff?), but this savory-sweet powder is unparalleled in its ability to impart an earthy, rich, umami flavor to whatever it touches. Plus, it contains an impressive array of B-vitamins, including folate (incredibly important in pregnancy) and vitamin B12 (which is most commonly found in animal products).

Miso: A staple of Japanese cooking, miso is a fermented paste made from soybeans, salt, a koji inoculant, and often a grain like rice or barley. These ingredients are smashed together and weighed down in a vat to ferment for anywhere from a few months to a few years. The umami-rich juices flow to the top; this salty sweet puddle is packaged and sold as tamari. 

As a fermented food, miso contains loads of good-for-your-gut probiotics. (I could spend another ten posts talking about the importance of establishing beneficial gut flora, but in short, probiotics are great for our digestion, for our mental health, and for our immunity. Pretty much all of the most important things.) Miso is also a concentrated protein source, and is a great source of fiber, manganese, and vitamins E, K, and B-complex vitamins. While it does contain its fair share of sodium, studies suggest that it doesn’t affect our cardiovascular systems in the same damaging way that other high-sodium foods can.

Have I suggested yet that you should double the recipe? You should double the recipe.  

Creamy Cashew, Dulse & Miso Dip

Because cashews are so mild in taste, they make for the perfect base to layer unique flavors. If you want to make your own roasted red peppers, simply line a baking sheet with foil, place the bells on top, and broil for a total of 30 minutes until totally blackened, flipping halfway through. Once cool enough to handle, de-stem, de-seed, and peel the peppers (it’s okay if you can’t get off all of the charred skin). This dip will last up to a week in the refrigerator.

Prep Time: 50 minutes
Yield: about 1.5 cups 

1 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup water
2 roasted red bell peppers 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 teaspoons dulse seaweed
1 teaspoon light miso paste
1 garlic clove
1.5 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

Place the cashews in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover. Let sit at least 45 minutes to soften. Drain.  

In a food processor or blender, add cashews, water, bell peppers, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, dulse, miso, garlic, salt and cayenne. Blend until smooth. Then, with the blender on low speed, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Add a touch more water if you would like a thinner consistency. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or lemon juice if necessary.