It has been more than 15 years since I have used salt in my cooking. I only have salt in my house for three reasons:
1. For dying fabric, salt will help the dye absorb better
2. Salt sometimes helps with cleaning projects
3. Every now and then I have a guest who is so used to shaking lots of salt they just need to put salt on an apple slice or something else that makes me cringe.
In my mind salt has no place in cooking because it does nothing to enhance the flavor, and it only ends up making you thirsty. Additionally, as health resources repeatedly tell us, salt and high sodium content is dangerous to one's heart health, circulation and blood pressure. High sodium and salt diets can literally kill you over time.
The good news is that throwing away the salt shaker is not much of a sacrifice when you become tuned in to the true flavors of food and flavors of alternative spices.
The reason people tend to like salt is because it adds some kind of kick or zing or wakes up the tongue in the taste process. Fortunately, salt alternatives can act just as perky and be a lot more exciting.
Here are 10 salt alternatives you can start incorporating into your diet and cooking right away.
1. Use garlic powder as a salt alternative. Do NOT use garlic salt or you defeat the purpose. The garlic powder enhances most cooking and livens it up, from meat to fish to poultry to soups, pastas, stir fry and more.
2. Fresh ground black pepper is a great salt alternative. There is a huge difference between shaking black pepper and using fresh ground black pepper. Fresh ground black pepper is a more intense and aromatic flavor. It is not expensive either and you don't need to have a pepper grinder or mill. In fact you can get black pepper in its own grinder at the dollar store, or at walgreens for about a buck. It will last a good long time. You simply unscrew the cap and you twist the grinder top clockwise and counter clockwise in an alternating fashing and you instantly produce the black pepper flakes to season your food. It smells wonderful and tastes delicious. In fact 90% of my cooking I just use garlic powder and fresh ground black pepper and it seems to be perfectly seasoned!
3. Soy sauce is another great salt alternative. It packs far less sodium than salt and gives a good salty punch if you like the taste of salt. You can also buy reduced sodium soy sauce or "lite" soy sauce.
4. Onion powder, NOT onion salt, is another salt alternative. Be sure to go easy when you first start using it because it is a fairly concentrated taste.
5. Fresh squeezed lemon juice is a wonderful salt alternative. Fresh squeezed is so much better than concentrate. One of the easiest and cleanest ways to squeeze a lemon is with a citrus juicer. It will maximize the juice yield and filter out those seeds. Lemon juice can be added after the item is cooked or in the case of raw produce, right before serving. Lemon juice also acts as a natural preservative, so it will keep fresh cut fruit from turning brown.
6. Lime juice is another salt alternative. Try adding it to water instead of drinking soda or pop. It will give your drink a kick. Lime is also great for making homemade salsa's. Do an internet search on recipes using lime and you will be pleasantly surprised out how many meal ideas can be enhances with a splash of freshly squeezed lime juice.
7. Fresh roasted garlic. If you love garlic, nothing beats fresh. You can mince garlic, or grate garlic or chop it or even slice it thin. You know the powerful taste of garlic and you won't miss salt at all because garlic as a salt alternative is a real taste sensation. Try roasting garlic with olive oil also.
8. For a crunchier salt alternative, try using unsalted ground sunflower seeds or sesame seeds, they make great toppings to salads, stir fry and other roasted foods too.
9. For cold deli style salads, try using mustard or some pickle juice for notching up the salty taste but reducing the salt and sodium level way down. Just learn to ignore the salt part of recipes. It usually has no taste effect to just skip the salt part of a recipe!
10. Don't forget about the sweet. Sweet can add zing to foods and cooking also. Try cooking chicken in orange juice and reduced sugar marmalade for wonderful orange chicken! Try using sweetened dried cranberries (such as craisins) to perk up a carrot salad, or other meal. Sweet and sour and tart tastes often satisfy the taste buds and provide a great salt alternative.
Start looking at your cooking in a new way and you will realize giving up salt is hardly sacrifice and can be fun. You will probably become a better cook because of it
1. For dying fabric, salt will help the dye absorb better
2. Salt sometimes helps with cleaning projects
3. Every now and then I have a guest who is so used to shaking lots of salt they just need to put salt on an apple slice or something else that makes me cringe.
In my mind salt has no place in cooking because it does nothing to enhance the flavor, and it only ends up making you thirsty. Additionally, as health resources repeatedly tell us, salt and high sodium content is dangerous to one's heart health, circulation and blood pressure. High sodium and salt diets can literally kill you over time.
The good news is that throwing away the salt shaker is not much of a sacrifice when you become tuned in to the true flavors of food and flavors of alternative spices.
The reason people tend to like salt is because it adds some kind of kick or zing or wakes up the tongue in the taste process. Fortunately, salt alternatives can act just as perky and be a lot more exciting.
Here are 10 salt alternatives you can start incorporating into your diet and cooking right away.
1. Use garlic powder as a salt alternative. Do NOT use garlic salt or you defeat the purpose. The garlic powder enhances most cooking and livens it up, from meat to fish to poultry to soups, pastas, stir fry and more.
2. Fresh ground black pepper is a great salt alternative. There is a huge difference between shaking black pepper and using fresh ground black pepper. Fresh ground black pepper is a more intense and aromatic flavor. It is not expensive either and you don't need to have a pepper grinder or mill. In fact you can get black pepper in its own grinder at the dollar store, or at walgreens for about a buck. It will last a good long time. You simply unscrew the cap and you twist the grinder top clockwise and counter clockwise in an alternating fashing and you instantly produce the black pepper flakes to season your food. It smells wonderful and tastes delicious. In fact 90% of my cooking I just use garlic powder and fresh ground black pepper and it seems to be perfectly seasoned!
3. Soy sauce is another great salt alternative. It packs far less sodium than salt and gives a good salty punch if you like the taste of salt. You can also buy reduced sodium soy sauce or "lite" soy sauce.
4. Onion powder, NOT onion salt, is another salt alternative. Be sure to go easy when you first start using it because it is a fairly concentrated taste.
5. Fresh squeezed lemon juice is a wonderful salt alternative. Fresh squeezed is so much better than concentrate. One of the easiest and cleanest ways to squeeze a lemon is with a citrus juicer. It will maximize the juice yield and filter out those seeds. Lemon juice can be added after the item is cooked or in the case of raw produce, right before serving. Lemon juice also acts as a natural preservative, so it will keep fresh cut fruit from turning brown.
6. Lime juice is another salt alternative. Try adding it to water instead of drinking soda or pop. It will give your drink a kick. Lime is also great for making homemade salsa's. Do an internet search on recipes using lime and you will be pleasantly surprised out how many meal ideas can be enhances with a splash of freshly squeezed lime juice.
7. Fresh roasted garlic. If you love garlic, nothing beats fresh. You can mince garlic, or grate garlic or chop it or even slice it thin. You know the powerful taste of garlic and you won't miss salt at all because garlic as a salt alternative is a real taste sensation. Try roasting garlic with olive oil also.
8. For a crunchier salt alternative, try using unsalted ground sunflower seeds or sesame seeds, they make great toppings to salads, stir fry and other roasted foods too.
9. For cold deli style salads, try using mustard or some pickle juice for notching up the salty taste but reducing the salt and sodium level way down. Just learn to ignore the salt part of recipes. It usually has no taste effect to just skip the salt part of a recipe!
10. Don't forget about the sweet. Sweet can add zing to foods and cooking also. Try cooking chicken in orange juice and reduced sugar marmalade for wonderful orange chicken! Try using sweetened dried cranberries (such as craisins) to perk up a carrot salad, or other meal. Sweet and sour and tart tastes often satisfy the taste buds and provide a great salt alternative.
Start looking at your cooking in a new way and you will realize giving up salt is hardly sacrifice and can be fun. You will probably become a better cook because of it
0 comments:
Post a Comment