Boil thick, leathery seaweeds for a short time to soften them. Eat them as a vegetable or with other foods. You can eat some varieties raw after testing for edibility. Although some plants or plant parts are edible raw, you must cook others to be edible or palatable. Edible means that a plant or food will provide you with necessary nutrients, while palatable means that it actually is pleasing to eat.
Many wild plants are edible but barely palatable.
It is a good idea to learn to identify, prepare, and eat wild foods. Methods used to improve the taste of plant food include soaking, boiling, cooking, or leaching. Boil leaves, stems, and buds until tender, changing the water, if necessary, to remove any bitterness. Boil, bake, or roast tubers and roots. Drying helps to remove caustic oxalates from some roots like those in the Arum family.