Why, you ask? Two reasons:

• My knife skills could use a little work. Just ask my sister-in-law, Dawn, who has one hand on the phone to dial 911 every time I pick up a knife to cut a vegetable.
• As I mentioned yesterday, I don’t eat sushi. Raw fish kind of gives me the willies.

BUT, I recently ran across nori seaweed at my local grocery store, you know the green stuff that’s used to wrap up sushi. Seaweed is a mineral powerhouse, in fact, according to Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra…

“Seaweed contains all fifty-six minerals and especially idodine, which are needed for the thyroid gland.”

Not only that, nori seaweed contains protein, calcium, iron, potassium, and more vitamin A than carrots, according to Dr. Jonny Bowden in his book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth.

I’ve been using nori seaweed sheets in place of bread or tortillas to make lower calorie, lower carb, easy to make, kinda-fun-to-eat, sandwich wraps.

The other day I cut up (gasp!) carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, and red onion and generously piled the veggies inside of a 10 calorie(!) sheet of nori seaweed along with some leftover edamame hummus. I then rolled it up like you would if making sushi, sealed the edge with a little water, and cut the wrap into three pieces.

For lunch over the weekend I made egg salad sushi rolls. I can say with great confidence that sushi chefs all over the world are cringing at this very moment. But get this, I didn’t have to do any cutting this time. Dawn will be relieved! I tossed two hard boiled eggs, 1/4 of a red onion, honey mustard, salt and pepper into my Vitamix and in about 10 seconds I had perfect egg salad.

I’m sure you can fill up these wraps with just about anything. Except ham salad, because that’s just gross.

Does it taste just like the sandwich you’d buy at a sub shop? Not quite. In fact, the seaweed texture takes some getting used to as it’s a bit chewy, but it’s not a deal-breaker. I’ve found if you make these wraps and stick them in the fridge an hour or more before you eat them, they soften up a bit and are easier to eat.

Now I really must go hit the gym before I hit the point of nori turn.

I’m pretty sure it was The Candid RD, who finally convinced me to try spaghetti squash as a substitution for pasta. I have to confess it is quite fabulous, in fact, on my first attempt I ate the entire thing in one sitting. Thank goodness spaghetti squash only has 42 calories per cup!

Besides being low in calories, here’s what else I love about spaghetti squash:

• It’s filling (yes, I know I ate the entire squash on the first try, but I enjoyed a more appropriate serving size last night so I can confirm that this really is a true statement)
• It is included in Dr. Jonny Bowden’s book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth (a book I highly recommend and refer to frequently)
• It earned a NuVal score of 93!
• It’s easy to make and quite versatile

Here’s how I prepare Amore Faux-Pasta Squash:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the squash open lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Bake cut-side down for 45 minutes then turn and bake until the skin is tender. Use a fork to release spaghetti-like strands and place them in a bowl. Season the squash to taste.

There are probably a million ways you can season your spaghetti squash. Here are 4 ideas:

• Olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, spinach, roma tomatoes
• Marinara sauce and roasted vegetables
• Carrie told me she mixes spaghetti squash with marinara and cheese and bakes it…I did this last night and it was tasty!
• Salt and pepper (clever, eh?)

Speaking of seasons, spaghetti squash just happens to be in season, so it should be easy to find in the produce aisle.

Now I really must go work on my campaign to become president of the world and make some more lean-guini. Ciao!