You have to totally forgo salt? If not, switch to kosher salt. Larger crystals equal slower dissolving equal more taste with less usage.
If truly forgoing sodium, Mrs Dash products are what we used when I was a dietary director.
Increase the acids in your food with the use of citrus or vinegars. Many people find this to curb the need for salt.
Ciao,
check out cooking with wines...I understand it gives the food a salty taste...and evaporates during cooking!
I bought "500 Low Sodum Recipes" by Dick Logue He helps you lose the salt, not the flavor in meals the whole family will love.
My favorite recipe is the dried Cream Soup Mix on page 71, you make it in the food processor and keep in the cupboard, never without a can of cream of chicken soup and it tastes pretty good used in cooking! Add mushrooms you have Cream of mushroom soup etc. etc.
Best of Luck, you can get there, and then some recipes are just too salty!
Lynn
Oh no, I don't use "Cooking" Wine. I said to Cook WITH Wine, I use whatever I drink and have in the house.
You are right Steve, use no less than you are willing to drink in Cooking.
For example I sautee a thin peice of chicken breast in my no stick pan and add a little bit of white wine to the pan, I continue to turn and brown until the wine is evaporated and chicken is done....has a lovely taste....
Now as for the sodium content in wine, don't know the label does not indicate calories or sodium, however, my thiught is that when it evaporates sodium is gone....
Will have to research this one!
Lynn
[quote author=LynnAllen02 link=topic=438.msg2381#msg2381 date=1295373789]...., however, my thiught is that when it evaporates sodium is gone....
When wine evaporates it leaves behind all the dissolved solids that are in it, as will any liquid when it (or more properly, the water in it) evaporates. That's how they get "Sea Salt" (for example), they take sea water, and suck (evaporate) all the H2O out of it, what is left behind is all the minerals that were dissolved in it, same Principal when cooking.
As for the sodium levels in wine, here is what I found on a quick search, I am sure that it will vary depending on the varietal of grape, vintage, ect... Other pages I found have up to 8mg per serving.
And Steve, I whole heartedly agree with you. I take my food just about as seriously as I take my camping.
<---Culinary Arts Major in College> :chef:
My DH goes ballistic when I use our wine for the cooking, so once I bought cooking wine so I would have my own to use.....It WAS cheap, but there was a reason, blech....
So now I just have to listen to him....
At 8 mg per serving, that's 5% of Daily Value, and maybe 1/4 cup in the sautee pan, and after the evaporation you think the whole amount of salt is left on our food? So I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.80% of my daily value on my chicken?
This is so much better than DH sprinkling sea salt on the unsalted nuts I buy!
Am I crunching the numbers right?
Lynn
DW and I have used two products since we decided to go saltless...New Salt and No Salt. Grain for grain, it taste the same to me, and my unknowing friends that would not dare do without salt never said anything when they sprinkled away while at our table. We had No Salt in a regular shaker and No Salt in the Factory package. No one but DW and I knew the difference.
Now i have no idea if these have alot of sodium in them but in everything i cook ( well almost everything) I put garlic powder, onion powder and italian seasoning.....i didn't think it made that much of a difference until i accidently forgot them one night....you could really tell it in the food....I get them at Dollar General for $1 each ( little shakers of seasonings above) and the dollar store has them too. The Italian Seasoning has Oregano, Thyme, Basil and Marjoram in it.
But I tell you what i have found to be the best thing for almost any recipe is to use real onion.....it really really makes food taste better....I guess it is the onion oil but I tell you what, my sister told me that and I finally tried it about a year or so ago and now I cringe whenever I use frozen onion b/c it just isn't as good.....my point is that if you can find other seasonings like onion and maybe some real garlic you may not notice the lack of salt! 😉
