above, photo by Ma’yan Moche

This presents as a refreshing gelatin dessert. It is a refreshing breakfast dish too, made with a sea vegetable called kanten or agar agar.  Made using an ancient process of snow-drying a variety of red sea vegetables, kanten is a concentrated source of nutrients and trace minerals, reducing the risk of certain diseases and aiding in toxin elimination. Its natural ability to gel or bind combined with its mild flavor and the fact that it has zero calories makes it an ideal fruit companion. So for anyone hesitant to jump on the vegetables for breakfast bandwagon, try this. A vegetable masquerading as a fruit?

Ingredients to serve 6

1 1/2 cups pure (no citrus added) apricot, apple or mango juice

1 1/2 cups spring water

3 Tablespoons kanten (agar agar) flakes – (1 tablespoon seaweed flakes per cup of liquid)

a pinch of medium or coarse sea salt

1½ – 2 cups berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc)

fresh mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Process

1. Place the 1 ½ cups of juice in a medium pot.  Add 1 1/2 cups spring or filtered water. Add the kanten flakes and let sit in the pot (no flame on) for about 10 minutes. Add a pinch of sea salt.

2. Heat on a medium flame until it begins to boil and all the kanten flakes dissolve. This should take about 10-20 minutes.  Mix gently with a wooden spoon.

3. Place the berries in individual dessert cups (or one big bowl). Pour the hot liquid kanten over the top. Leave to cool and firm and then refrigerate before serving.

4. You can top with a fresh mint leaf or berry.