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Take a few minutes and read these low sodium cooking tips. Most of you will find a salt free seasoning tip or several that will help you with your low sodium diet and help you stick to it.
Take #103 Table Tasty salt substitute and #117 Bravado chili seasoning at about a 50/50 combination. You will get a Dorito like flavor and it's salt free. Sprinkle on unsalted corn chips, unsalted potato chips, unsalted nuts, potatoes, eggs, popcorn. Even in sour cream as a dip and add to guacamole. Beat some into eggs when making a Spanish Omelette and stir in or sprinkle on some of this mix to spice up deviled eggs. This combination is amazing when added to taco meat, even sprinkled on grilled fish for fish tacos. It really does make a good salt free taco seasoning. It's also good added to beans.
Since most of you are not using bacon fat for that nice smokey flavor in your greens or beans, you can try Wrights Liquid Smoke. A drop is all you need as it is very potent but it gives a nice smokey, grilled taste made from roasted hickory wood. Soon we hope to have a salt free seasoning blend with a nice smoke flavor.
There are just three basic carriers of flavor: fat, water, and alcohol.
A pressure cooker is a great way to cook quickly and add lots of flavor. Cooking in a pressure cooker, adds flavor just like you had been cooking all day. It's a great way to cook tougher cuts of meat (as they are usually more flavorful). These tougher cuts will cook up tender, in minutes versus hours. This is a great way to cook soups and stews, for maximum flavor. We have used a pressure cooker for years (one that says can't explode).
Most margarines and shortenings are trans fats. Trans fats are proven not good for your heart. Stay away from anything that says hydrogenated. That means trans fats.
Buy meats with the bones when possible. Bones add flavor. This works for everything. Beef, chicken, turkey, fish, or pork. A pork chop for example with the bone will have better flavor than a boneless pork chop. It's just the way it is. Always make your soups and stews with some bones. The flavor difference is huge.
When you are shopping, be aware that most of the time when a product says low fat or no fat, the sodium may be 2 or 3 times higher than the regular product.
A pinch of cayenne or chili powder added towards the end of cooking, (especially soups) can add a little zip without making it hot. Soup is probably the hardest dish to cook salt free and tasty. Table Tasty really helps here and so does a pinch of cayenne or Bravado. You can also add a little (a pinch) of red pepper flakes when you are sauteeing vegetables for a soup or a sauce. This adds a little zip.
Cook with a rainbow of colors. You've heard the saying "We eat with our eyes first." Make your food colorful. When using the basics, like onion try adding also red onion or some green onion. Bell peppers, instead of just green, splurge and get a red and/or yellow bell pepper. Use celery, (always the darker the green, the better), and carrot (unless used raw is usually peeled, otherwise the peeling may turn dark when cooking). Use different colors of squash, like green Italian zucchini, yellow bar zucchini, and white zucchini (light green) or called Mexican squash. Try different colors of potatoes instead of the same kind every time. Tomatoes come in a variety of colors and flavors. If you miss the taste of a really good flavorful tomato and you don't have a garden, try heirloom tomatoes. They are usually varigated and not the prettiest shapes, but they have great flavor. Even if you just use red and yellow cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half, the color and presentation on the plate is beautiful. It's amazing what a variety of colors on your plate can do. This adds a definite eye appeal. It's healthier. Colors are richer in antioxidants. If you have trouble finding colorful fruits and vegetables, shop your local farmers market. You will find varieties of the freshest produce both colors and flavors that you never see in the grocery stores. We all should be supporting our local farmers markets.
Many of you ask about what kind of chicken to buy? We always tell you watch the labels and the very fine print on the labels. It is a common practice especially with boneless skinless chicken breasts to inject them with a sodium broth. Now I am seeing this more in other chicken products. Many chicken pieces are ice glazed. The glaze is a sodium broth. Here is a link to a page by Foster Farms discussing this process about plumping (injecting with a sodium type broth). http://www.saynotoplumping.com/
Always look for yellow chicken. The more yellow the better. The chicken is usually raised more natural and is usually a little older so a little bigger and we have found almost always has better flavor. Yes, we usually buy chicken with the skin on. It makes for a better tasting and a moister chicken recipe. You don't have to eat the skin. As you read above, most skinless chicken has a sodium broth injected. If you can find a natural cage free or free range chicken, they are usually the best. Usually expensive but amazingly good and no hormones or antibiotics. Kosher chicken is usually brined (read your labels). Occasionally, we shop at Mexican markets in our area and their chickens are usually very yellow. Sometimes the chickens are fed marigold petals to help get that yellow skin. The Mexican shoppers seem to know that yellow chickens are best. Even if the yellow is helped along, these chickens tend to be bigger and more flavorful. Good to cook long and slow. You may find this to be the case in other ethnic markets.
It looks like most all of the turkey is being plumped (injected with a sodium broth) or brined. Look for free range, no antibiotics or hormones. These farmers raise their turkeys this way so they are the most natural and usually the most flavorful. These will most likely not be plumped. Not easy to find. Try natural food stores, or direct from the farms, or mail order.
Add minced fresh Italian parsley towards the end of your cooking. Usually
when you're ready for that last stir before you're ready to serve.
Then sprinkle with a little more fresh parsley on the very top of your
food just as you've placed it on the platter or bowl, to serve.
Parsley adds a nice fresh taste with a hint of saltiness. Parsley is
one of the most nutritious herbs and makes the finished dish
beautiful. This must be nice fresh green Italian parsley leaves, not
old, or yellow and not too much of the stems, for the best results. (This is one of the main reasons we have parsley flakes in all of our seasonings. For taste, with that little edge of saltiness and to make the food beautiful).
Some chopped fresh herbs added at the end of cooking really can perk up a dish. A little fresh basil for instance, stirred in to pasta sauce just before serving, adds a lot of flavor and aroma. If fresh herbs are added to a hot recipe, just the warmth of the food will carry the aroma of the fresh herb. Good aroma really helps food taste better. If you pinch your nose closed and taste something most cannot taste anything. The smell (aroma) of the food is important to increasing flavor. That is why nothing tastes good when you have a cold. No smell, no taste. This is why when cooking with our seasonings (because they are so fresh and have very aromatic ingredients), the smells (aromas) are so wonderful. You can call this true aromatherapy. Aroma definitely helps the flavor of the food. Note: If you are cooking for someone who is not eating very well. Make sure you try a crockpot or slow cooking. Fill the house with the aroma of good smelling food. It opens the appetite and starts the taste buds working. Remember when you would walk in to a house when someone was cooking something that smelled so good...you couldn't wait to eat. There is an advertisement on this page for growing an indoor herb garden or vegetables, peppers, flowers (whatever you like) the Hydroponic
AeroGarden. This makes growing herbs so easy. No yard, No dirt, No bugs. Grow fresh herbs indoors
Note: If you are eating a healthier diet - a low sodium diet, these are lifestyle changes. We highly recommend growing some fresh herbs to go along with our seasonings, as they do compliment and add more flavor. It's less expensive to grow your own and it is enjoyable to eat something you've grown. If you have never had a garden, this is a good place to start. You can even start by growing a few herbs on the kitchen windowsill. If you are wondering which herbs to start with, try the fantastic 5 fresh herbs: Parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (like the song) and basil. You could add cilantro, dill, tarragon or whatever you like. |
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