Cucumber and Wakame Seaweed Salad

Ok, don't get grossed out on me just yet - you might actually find that you like seaweed! It's pretty healthy, being low-cal, high-fiber, good antioxidants and that sort of thing. You can buy salted wakame (just toss it in boiling water for a few seconds, then blanch it in ice water quickly to prep it) or dried wakame (in which case you just reconstitute it by putting in a bowl of water for 5-10 minutes) in the Asian section of the grocery store. If good old Fry's doesn't have it, you might have to try somewhere a little more specialized - AJ's or maybe an Asian market.

• 3 cucumbers (if using small English or Japanese ones...if not, maybe you'd only need 1 big American-sized one, seeded)
• 1.5 oz. wakame seaweed
• 1 can tuna, drained
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T. Dijon mustard
• 2 T. rice vinegar
• 3 T. vegetable oil
• 1/2 t. salt

Slice cucumber in 1-cm thick slices, then chop coarsely. Squeeze the water out of the wakame, and cut into 2-inch long slices. In a small bowl, combine last 5 ingredients. Add tuna, cucumber, and wakame and mix well. If you like, sprinkle a few sesame seeds over the top for garnish. (I apologize for the poor photo quality.) Serves 4.