The Low Sodium Cookbook (5 page)

Cooking Tips and Techniques

Frequently eating prepared foods or eating out makes following a low-sodium diet especially challenging. The best—and dare we say, the easiest—way to reduce the sodium in your diet is to cook most of your food yourself. This way, you know exactly what goes into it and you can make adjustments, like adding additional spices to make up for a lack of salt, to ensure that the food will be delicious.

Seek out low-sodium recipes for your favorite foods, or adapt recipes yourself. The second half of this book provides more than one hundred recipes for favorite foods—from refreshing salads to spicy chilies, hearty grilled steak and beef stew to light grilled-fish dishes, as well as virtuous fruit desserts and luscious, but still low-fat, chocolate cream pie.

The more you cook low-sodium dishes, the more adept you’ll become at using low-sodium substitutes. Soon it will become second nature. And once you’ve mastered low-sodium cooking, almost no meal will be off-limits to you. Whether it’s pizza, tuna casserole, or spaghetti and meatballs you crave, you can adapt recipes to fit your low-sodium requirements.

The first rule of low-sodium cooking, just like low-sodium eating, is to choose whole, natural, fresh ingredients over processed foods whenever possible. Start with fresh tomatoes instead of canned, if you can, and you’ll immediately cut a huge amount of sodium. Dried beans are another place where starting from scratch can drastically reduce the sodium content, so start with dried beans instead of canned. Soak and cook a large batch and store them in can-size portions in your freezer to make substituting them for canned in recipes a cinch. Cooked beans will keep in your freezer for up to three months.

The same goes for chicken, beef, or vegetable broths. Make your own from scratch, and not only will you know exactly what is in it, but you can control the salt and other seasonings to ensure that your broth is flavorful without being loaded with sodium. And again, you can make large batches and freeze them in can-size portions for easy substituting. If you don’t have time to make your own broth, by all means, choose a low-sodium version or dilute it with water.

And, of course, don’t add salt to the food you are cooking. Many foods naturally contain sodium, and condiments often do, too, so adding table salt is unnecessary. But remember, low-sodium doesn’t have to mean bland. Take some time to explore the spice aisle at your supermarket and you’ll find dozens of ways to spice up your meals. Even if a recipe calls for just a pinch of salt, find another seasoning to replace it.

Even when the cooking directions on the package say to add salt, don’t!
It’s common for the directions for cooking dried pasta, rice, and other grains or grain-based foods to instruct you to add salt, but rest assured, this isn’t necessary. The food will cook up just fine without it, and you don’t need the extra sodium.

Spices like ground dried chilies, peppercorns, cumin, fennel seeds, cinnamon, and ground mustard can be combined in a million different ways to create varied flavor profiles. Dried herbs, too, are a convenient way to bring various dishes to life. Basil or oregano make your spaghetti sauce taste like authentic Italian cooking. Curry powder makes it easy to reproduce some of your favorite Indian restaurant’s dishes at home. Ground chipotle powder is perfect for spicing up meat for tacos.

In the produce section, you’ll find fresh herbs like cilantro, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, mint, and parsley that can add even more vibrant flavor to your dishes. Stirring a handful of chopped fresh herbs into a soup or stew at the last minute really brings the flavors to life.

And while you’re in the produce aisle, be sure to pick up some lemons, limes, garlic, fresh ginger, onions, shallots, green onions, and leeks. All of these commonly available ingredients are low in sodium and add tons of flavor to any dish.

Some foods like pickles, olives, and capers can be used only in very small amounts. A tablespoon of capers in a dish that serves eight is fine, but a tablespoon of capers on your bagel with cream cheese is not. When you do use these ingredients in your cooking, use the most flavorful brands or varieties you can find and use them sparingly.

Regular soy sauce is sadly one ingredient that really has no place in a low-sodium household since even just one teaspoon contains nearly a quarter of an entire day’s sodium allotment. Other condiments like Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and ketchup should be replaced with low-sodium or no-salt-added varieties or used only in small amounts.

Here are a few simple ideas for adding flavor to your meals without adding sodium:

• Use an acidic fruit juice—lemon, lime, orange, or even pineapple—along with some fresh or dried herbs or ground spices as a marinade for meat, poultry, or fish.
  
• Coat fish or chicken with sesame seeds before pan-searing.
  
• Add sautéed onions, shallots, leeks, or garlic to sautéed, stir-fried, or braised dishes.
  
• Add dried fruits—apricots, cranberries, raisins, or figs—to salads, grains, or even meat stews for extra zing.
  
• Season steamed vegetables with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and/or a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.
  
• Spice up dishes with a drizzle of chili oil or a sprinkling of cayenne.
  
• Toss diced potatoes with olive oil and minced fresh rosemary and then roast them in a hot oven until crisp on the outside and tender inside.
  
• Season corn on the cob with fresh-squeezed lime juice and (salt-free) chili powder.
  
• Toss hot pasta with olive oil, minced fresh garlic, and thinly sliced fresh basil.
  

Learn to Read Food Labels

Reading food labels is an important part of making the switch to a low-sodium diet. There is so much hidden sodium in packaged foods that the only way you can know how much you are getting and what foods to avoid is to read every single label.

First, check the serving size and think about how much of that food you normally eat. Ketchup, for instance, has a serving size of one tablespoon, but most people eat three or four times that (at least) with a basket of French fries.

Next, check the sodium content and multiply that number by how many servings you’re likely to eat in a meal. Using ketchup as an example, if you think you’ll eat three tablespoons, and the sodium per serving listed on the package is 200 mg, then 600 mg is the amount of sodium you’d likely consume in a meal that includes that particular ketchup.

When buying canned or packaged foods, look for labels that read “reduced sodium,” “low sodium,” or “no salt added.” Choose the no-salt or low-sodium options whenever possible. Remember, “low sodium” means that the food contains less than 140 mg of sodium per serving, and “no salt added” means that no salt is added during the cooking or processing, even though the food in the package might naturally contain some sodium.

Ten Tips for Dining Out

The toughest thing about eating out when you are on a low-sodium diet is figuring out just how much sodium you are getting since you don’t know how the foods are prepared or exactly what is being added. Still, it is possible to eat out without sending your low-sodium diet off the rails. Here are ten tips to help you navigate a low-sodium diet in a restaurant setting:

1. Steer clear of fast-food and chain restaurants where the workers have little control over the individual ingredients in your meal. If you can’t avoid going to a fast-food restaurant, check the nutrition information, which should be posted in the restaurant (and might be available on the restaurant’s website) to find the lowest-sodium options. Ask for high-sodium condiments like ketchup, mustard, or salad dressing to be left off or served on the side.
   
2. When possible, choose individually owned (nonchain) restaurants where food is cooked to order.
   
3. Ask your server questions about how the food is prepared and what goes into the dish. If he doesn’t know, ask him to check with the chef.
   
4. Speak up. Don’t be shy about telling your server that you are on a strict low-sodium diet and asking for your food to be prepared without added salt or high-sodium condiments if at all possible.
   
5. Go for something simple, like grilled or roasted meat or fish, rather than a complicated curry, braised dish, or casserole that has many ingredients. The more ingredients a dish has, the more likely some of them are high in sodium.
   
6. Ask for the sauce to be left off your dish or served on the side.
   
7. Use condiments sparingly, if at all. Remember, condiments often contain more hidden sodium than you might expect.
   
8. Don’t add additional salt to your food at the table. If you are tempted, ask the server to remove the salt shaker. Better yet, pack your own salt-free spice mixture and stash it in your purse or pocket to add to anything that is too bland for your taste.
   
9. Skip salty accoutrements like olives, pickles, capers, or grated cheese.
   
10. Enjoy a fruit-based dessert.
    

CHAPTER FIVE

A 14-Day Low-Sodium Meal Plan

Low-Sodium Action Plan

Starting any new lifestyle habit—whether it is an exercise plan or a diet—is challenging since habits are deeply ingrained and often hard to break or even bend. Having a detailed plan is a great way to get you started on the right track. It’s like a road map that shows you exactly where to turn every step of the way.

Our fourteen-day meal plan is designed to help get you off on the right foot by providing a detailed guideline for you to follow for the first two weeks of your low-sodium diet. The 14-Day Low-Sodium Meal Plan is designed for the typical adult with a maximum of 1,500 mg of sodium per day. You may need to make adjustments to suit your own particular requirements. (See the
Dietary Recommendations
in Chapter 2 for more information.)

Remember that your low-sodium diet is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. You may find that after just a few weeks on the diet, your blood pressure drops significantly and troublesome symptoms begin to disappear. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you’ve fixed the problem and can go back to your old habits. Returning to a high-sodium diet will ensure only that all of those problems will come back to haunt you again. The key is to start and stay on a low-sodium diet.

The good news is that once you’ve been on the diet for a few weeks, you’ll find that choosing low-sodium foods becomes second nature. You won’t have to think so much about every morsel of food that you put in your mouth. Soon you will be eating a low-sodium diet as a matter of course, with hardly a second thought.

All of the foods on this plan are familiar and easy to find in your regular supermarket or grocery store. Remember to always drink water with your meals and throughout the day to keep your system clean and moving. Included in the fourteen-day meal plan are many of the recipes from this book. The recipes, of course, are all easy to make, full of flavor, and low in sodium.

Note: the recipes from this book are marked with a star (*) in the meal plan.

Day 1 (total sodium 1,241 mg)

BREAKFAST (215 MG SODIUM)

1 toasted whole-wheat English muffin with

• 2 tablespoons no-salt-added all-natural peanut butter and
  
• 1 teaspoon honey (106 mg sodium)
  

1 medium apple (2 mg sodium)

1 cup 1 percent low-fat milk (107 mg sodium)

MID-MORNING SNACK (145 MG SODIUM)

1 medium peach

1 cup low-fat fruit-flavored yogurt (145 mg sodium)

LUNCH (475 MG SODIUM)

Heart-Healthful Cobb Salad
*
(390 mg sodium) with

• 2 tablespoons low-sodium croutons (85 mg sodium)
  

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK (194 MG SODIUM)

14 whole-grain low-sodium crackers (170 mg sodium)

Jalapeño-Cilantro Hummus
*
(24 mg sodium)

serving size

DINNER (162 MG SODIUM)

1 (4-ounce) halibut fillet coated with 1 tablespoon crushed pecans and

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, pan-fried in ½ tablespoon unsalted butter

(120 mg sodium)

½ cup cooked quinoa tossed with ½ cup chopped fresh tomato, ½ cup diced cucumber, and 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (12 mg sodium)

1 cup steamed broccoli (30 mg sodium)

DESSERT (50 MG SODIUM)

½ cup chocolate ice cream topped with

• ½ cup sliced strawberries (50 mg sodium)
  

Day 2 (1,367 mg sodium)

BREAKFAST (208 MG SODIUM)

1 Healthful Apple Muffin with Cinnamon-Pecan Topping
*
(136 mg sodium)

1 hard-boiled egg (70 mg sodium)

1 cup fresh orange juice (2 mg sodium)

MID-MORNING SNACK (150 MG SODIUM)

1 (1-ounce) slice low-sodium Muenster cheese (75 mg sodium)

20 unsalted mini pretzels (75 mg sodium)

LUNCH (497 MG SODIUM)

Tuna salad sandwich

• 2 slices 100 percent whole-wheat sandwich bread (292 mg sodium)
  
• 3 ounces light, water-packed tuna (no salt added) mixed with 1 tablespoon minced celery, 2 teaspoons minced red onion, 1 tablespoon light mayonnaise, and 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (154 mg sodium)
  
• 1 large lettuce leaf (5 mg sodium)
  
• 2 slices tomato (1 mg sodium)
  

½ cup carrot sticks (45 mg sodium)

MID-AFTERNOON SNACK (3 MG SODIUM)

1 medium pear (2 mg sodium)

15 unsalted almonds (1 mg sodium)

DINNER (489 MG SODIUM)

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breast in Dijon Sauce
*
(459 mg sodium) Green salad with 2 tablespoons low-fat vinaigrette (20 mg sodium)

1 cup potatoes roasted with 1 teaspoon olive oi¼l,

teaspoon freshly ground pepper,

and ¼ teaspoon freshly minced rosemary (10 mg sodium)

DESSERT (20 MG SODIUM)

1 cup fresh berries with

• ½ cup frozen all-natural whipped topping (20 mg sodium)