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Lemon Dulse Spread

It happened like this.. a friend walked up to me with a bag of something called ‘dulse’ and she said, “I bought this stuff but it’s really terrible and I don’t know what to do with it. Can you make something awesome out of it?”

“Uh, I’ve never heard of dulse, but I can try…”

I did some research and discovered that dulse is a type of red seaweed. That research mostly consisted of putting a piece in my mouth and realizing that it tasted exactly like the ocean. No, it isn’t very tasty by itself, but I knew the salty, ocean-y aspect had great potential if it was incorporated with the right flavors.

There are scant dulse recipes online, one person made bread with it (not so sure about that one…), many people simply add it to the top of salads, but the one that had the most potential was a lemony dulse spread from YumUniverse.com. The lemon would cut some of the dulse’s harshness, and the cashews would add a great creaminess. Using that as a starting point, I added a few other ingredients and came up with something that I’m absolutely loving. I never would have expected it to work so well, but I could eat this stuff all day.

Dulse Spread

Makes about 1 cup of spread

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 3 tablespoons tahini
  • 1 lemon (juice + zest)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons dulse flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
  • water (as needed)

Step One

Soak the cashews and sunflower seeds for at least 2 hours in several cups of water. Then, drain the soaking water and add them to a food processor with the tahini, lemon juice + zest, and 1-2 cloves garlic. Pulse until the nuts have been broken down and the consistency is fairly creamy.

Step Two

Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and add them to the food processor with the dulse flakes, salt, and a little water (as needed) to get a spreadable, but not watery, consistency. Give the spread a taste and feel free to adjust any ingredients as needed.

Note: dulse flakes should be fairly easy to find in most health-conscious grocers near other types of seaweed. It’s a great ingredient that is packed with nutrients, and one bag will last forever.

Step Three

Refrigerate! As with all nut-based spreads, they become better after refrigerating for 2-3 hours. When the ingredients have a chance to rest, the flavors become much more developed.

Add to crackers, crusty bread, sandwiches, or whatever else you can imagine. It’s so delicious.

Dulse Spread Table

Dulse Spread Detail

9 Comments

Leave a Reply
    • Hey Heather, thanks so much for the inspiration! The original recipe looks great and I love your blog, so much great stuff! 🙂

  1. Appreciate this recipe! I’ve shied away from dulse for years fearing I could never overcome the ocean-y taste. Can’t wait to smear this recipe on some crusty bread. And thanks for recommending to let the spread sit for a while. I would have eaten it right away!

  2. People here in Nova Scotia eat dulse from the bag as a snack.
    I’ve never really cared for it. This recipe sounds like a winner though. <3

    • That’s interesting. I tried a piece by itself and it, well, wasn’t very tasty. Much better in this recipe! 🙂

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