Seaweed Surprise - Cucumber & Arame Salad

I've been wanting to learn how to use seaweed for a while now. I bought some arame a while ago but my attempts at "intuitively" using it haven't been particularly successful. So, I resorted to google and found this recipe that sounded easy and interesting: http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2009/04/29/raw-food-recipe-for-cucumber-arame-salad/. As I was boiling the arame (I decided to soak and boil it, as the packaging suggested), I started wondering if I would just have to chuck the whole salad out; the smell of the boiling seaweed wasn't particularly appealing. So, I was all the more surpised at how tasty and wonderfully refreshing the salad turned out to be. I'm already thinking how perfect it would be for one of those hot summer days in Turin.

I modified the original recipe a little bit; below is what I did.

Seaweed Surprise 

25 g arame
1.5 long, thick cucumbers
1 red pepper
1/2 medium-sized onion
3/4 lemon
sea salt
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

1. Wash the arame and let it soak for 10 minutes. Then boil it for 15 minutes.
2. Peel the cucumber and slice it as thinly as possible. I used the peeler to slice the cucumber, too.
3. Sprinkle sea salt on the sliced cucumber and let set in a salad bowl for a bit.
4. Dice the pepper and the onion, and add it into the salad bowl.
5. Rinse the boiled arame, chop it into smaller pieces, and add it into the salad bowl.
6. Add the pepper, the juice of the lemon and the olive oil, and mix.
(7. Stick the salad into the fridge for a bit for an extra refreshing effect.)
8. Eat and feel refreshed!

Annika