Seaweed salad, affordable greens

I walked into Price Chopper the other day craving greens. (OK, I am pretty much always craving greens, but this was really, truly craving, as in I will get in the car with 4-year-old twins and stand in line and make chit chat with a check out guy in order to get said greens.)

So I picked out some Swiss chard, grabbed the rest of the week's groceries and stood in a very long check out line. Did I mention I had 4-year-old twins with me? Yeah, well that went well for a few minutes.

So we got our turn and our things were whooshing through, can, beep, box, beep, bread, beep, greens......hello, greens, the main reason for the trip....greens, nope. Code not working. The twins were now starting to twist and turn and it wouldn't be long before the full tornado lifted off. It will just be a minute, the guy said.

The people in the line behind us had tight half-grins.

The lady bagging remarked about how well behaved the girls were. All I could think was don't jinx me now.

The floor manager came back and punched in the code and the greens went through. At $6.55. You've got to be kidding. We were talking about enough greens to wilt down into a small bowl and give everyone a little clump, maybe. The screen said they were $3.99 a pound.

At this point I wasn't going to argue that the sign said $2.99 a pound, and I knew this for a fact because I am a freak who can't keep my childrens' names straight but can always tell you the price per pound of most vegetalbes, certainly anything in my basket. Even at $2.99 a pound, I'd been stretching it.

I don't want them, I said. I was being stubborn. It happens sometimes. There they were, bright and almost glowing with their little red veins and dark green leaves. The girls were fidgeting enough that the cart was starting to shake. I left the greens on counter, and tried not to glance back at the people in line.

When I got home, I realized I was going to need a different approach to greens in the winter. I pulled out a bag of fueru wakame, which is just a little bag of seaweed broken up into little bits. Into a big metal bowl it went, and 10 minutes later the bowl was full of dark green strands. A quick rinse, a quick chop into ribbons. One carrot. Two cucumbers. One cap full of vegetable oil. A couple long dashes of rice vinegar. A few drops of sesame oil. And there, a bowl of greens for under $3.

It tasted even better after it had soaked for an hour.

One bag of furi wakame goes for about $2.49. There is enough to make at least three family-sized salads. If you buy the wakame in big strips it is even cheaper. Just soak till it is soft, rinse a few times and chop it up. You can buy the wakame at most health food stores (it will be a bit more expensive there) or just about any Asian grocery store.

(I went back to Price Chopper later in the week and picked up a huge bunch of turnip greens for $1.49 a pound.)