lower sodium techniques

[CMS]

Does anyone know how to make these marvelous recipies without salt? It is a killer for me...
Thanks
CMS

[dlaboriel]

Take a look at these techniques.

http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/EContent_HT/cnoteShowLfts.asp?fname=02058&title=SEASONING+WITHOUT+SALT+&cid=HTHLTH

[sneezles]

I had to make the move to low sodium diet back in November. It's been fairly easy to adapt most recipes and I'm amazed now how salty things taste when I eat out...

·I make my own stocks (chicken, veggie and beef) without adding any salt and freeze in 2 1/2 cups containers

·I buy only no-salt added tomatoes and tomato sauce

·Soy sauce I reduce by 2/3 and add water to get the required amount of liquid

·I don't use low-sodium cheese ('cept for Swiss on sandwiches, which are rare for me). There are too many cheeses I love to give them up so I just reduce the amount I use and then don't add any salt to a recipe that uses cheese.

·I don't add any salt to a recipe until after all the ingredients are added and then taste then I add 1/4 of what's called for...sometimes just increasing all the other seasonings is enough to compensate for the lack of salt. I truly found that after a couple of weeks I could get by with less and less.

·For most baked goods I have found that I can reduce the salt by half. I have found salt free baking powder and baking soda and while the results are not always great it's better than no scone at all! ;)

[CMS]

Thank you, dlaboriel & sneezles for your helpful reply. I've marked the website and will use the information just about every day. The low sodium diet is difficult for me because my favorite past time is eating the stuff I make... I haven't located a place here where the low sodium baking powder is available though it is found on line. I'm leery of ordering because it comes from so far away and who knows what is really in it...
I wonder if not using the salt in particular recipies will result in poor results? Particularly in baking where we are really preparing a formula rather than a recipe. Will that alteration prevent the food from being what it is supposed to be?
Some good cook/chef should do a low sodium column or show.
Oh, by the way, the magazine shows the nutritional breakdown for the recipes; is that for a serving or the entire recipe?
Thanks again,
CMS

[sneezles]

Originally posted by CMS
I'm leery of ordering because it comes from so far away and who knows what is really in it...


Oh, by the way, the magazine shows the nutritional breakdown for the recipes; is that for a serving or the entire recipe?
Thanks again,
CMS

All items imported to the US must follow the US requirements for labeling. The no-sodium baking powders and baking soda are mainly potassium. As for the baked goods, you're right in that it's a formula but the amount in most recipes is more than what's actually needed to get a good result. Some of the salt is for flavoring-to satisfy the Western palate. I experiment all the time with salt content of recipes and have gotten good results. Even baguettes with no salt at all!!

Cooking Light recipes' nutritional data is per serving.

Here's another site that has recipes but may be helpful when you're trying to adjust one of CL recipes.

Low Sodium Archives (http://www.lowsodiumcooking.com/free/Archive.htm#appetizers)

[Ohioan]

Here's another good site for low sodium cooking: Megaheart Low Sodium (http://www.megaheart.com/). I also recommend all his cookbooks.

Cheers,
Phoebe

[Kay Henderson]

I make homemade broth for food sensitivity reasons. What I do is freeze the broth in ice cube trays, and then put the cubes into Ziplok bags. When I need broth, I take out however many cubes I need.

Kay

[sharon775]

Read labels of everything- even bread and milk have sodium! I make salad dressings from scratch now, limit canned goods to no salt ones, half the salt called for in most recipes. I tend to eat low sodium b'fast and lunch, so I can eat more at dinner. Oatmeal is great. Google the SALT diet- it limits sodium to 1500 per day (which is very hard to do). The more fruit and veg you have the better- this increases potassium and magnesium. Good luck!