Preparing Healthy Meals
KEEP THE
FLAVOR
WITHOUT THE SALT
WITHOUT THE SALT
When you’re cooking at
home, you’ll want to use plenty of pepper, garlic, onion, and/or lemon to give
foods more distinctive flavor. Instead of onion salt, garlic salt, and celery
salt, switch to onion powder, garlic powder, and celery seeds or flakes, which
are all low in sodium and provide lots of impact. Replace salt with herbs and
spices or a salt-free seasoning mix, or get creative and prepare your own
salt-free seasoning blends.
You can also refer to Ingredient Substitutions
for ideas about how to reduce the sodium and harmful fat in the recipes you
love. For example, to tenderize meats, marinate them rather than using
high-sodium meat tenderizer. Instead of using seasoned bread crumbs, add
salt-free herbs to unseasoned bread crumbs. Make these and the following expert
tips part of your kitchen repertoire to satisfy your taste buds while using
less salt in your food.
· Add fresh herbs to dishes at the last minute for a more “alive” taste. In most recipes, fresh
herbs provide more flavor than dried.
· Buy the best and the freshest whole spices and grind them in a spice grinder. You’ll
taste a big difference compared to preground dried spices.
· If you do buy preground dried spices or herbs, purchase only small amounts. You’ll need to
replenish your supply more often, but they’ll be fresher.
· Use dry mustard or no-salt-added bottled mustard instead of high-sodium bottled mustard. You
can also try honey mustard, which is generally lower in sodium than other
bottled mustards. Check the nutrition labels when new products appear; some are
low in sodium without advertising it on the front.
· Add fresh hot chile peppers to your dishes for a little bite. (Using plastic gloves, discard the seeds and
ribs before finely chopping the peppers if you like less heat.) Raw peppers are
very low in sodium and have a lot more flavor than the higher-sodium pickled
kind.
· Use a food processor to grate fresh horseradish, which packs more punch than the salted,
bottled kind.
· Add fresh gingerroot for a lot of zing. Peel the gingerroot, then grate it using a
ginger grater, microplane grater, or flat, sheet-type grater.
· Grate citrus zest, the part
of the peel without the bitter white pith, with either a microplane grater or a
flat, sheet-type grater. You can also remove the zest with a vegetable peeler
and cut it into thin strips.
· Try sprinkling vinegar or citrus juice on foods to enhance flavor, but add it at the last minute. Vinegar is
wonderful on vegetables such as greens; citrus juice, on fruits such as
cantaloupe.
· Stay away from cooking wines and sherries; they are very high in sodium. Although you
don’t need to use an expensive selection, the wine you cook with should taste
good enough to drink.
· Fill a salt or pepper shaker with a combination of finely ground dried
herbs and spices to use instead of salt, or
buy salt-free herb blends.
· Some vegetables and fruits, such as mushrooms, tomatoes, chiles, cherries, cranberries, and
currants, impart a more intense flavor when dried than when fresh. When you
reconstitute them, the soaking liquid will give you a bonus of natural “broth”
to work with.
· Dry-roast seeds, nuts, and whole spices to bring out their full flavor.
USE
HEART-HEALTHY
COOKING TECHNIQUES
COOKING TECHNIQUES
All cooking methods are not
created equal: Some are better than others for preserving basic nutrients and
keeping added fat and sodium to a minimum. Try to avoid methods that add fat or
allow food to cook in its own fat, such as deep-fat frying or pan frying.
Instead, use the following techniques to enhance flavor and help protect your
heart.
BRAISING OR STEWING. Both of these slow-cooking methods are good
ways to tenderize tougher cuts of meat. They both involve covering and cooking
food in liquid. To braise food, add only a small amount of liquid to the pot. To
stew, add enough liquid to cover the ingredients. Because fat cooks out of the
meat into the liquid, prepare your recipe a day ahead, if possible. Refrigerate
the dish so you can then easily remove the chilled fat before reheating the
food. Braising and stewing are also excellent ways to cook vegetables and
fruit.
GRILLING OR BROILING. Grilling (cooking over direct heat) and
broiling (cooking under direct heat) allow the fat to drip away from food as it
cooks. These methods are best for foods that cook quickly, such as steaks,
chicken pieces, seafood, and vegetables. For extra flavor, marinate food before
putting it on the grill or under the broiler and baste during the cooking
process. (For food safety, be sure to clean basting brushes between steps to prevent
transferring bacteria from raw meat.)
MICROWAVE COOKING. Microwaving is a fast, easy method that keeps food moist as it
cooks. Because microwaving does not cause the liquid in food to evaporate, you
need no added fat or oil to prevent sticking. Microwaving is particularly
useful for foods that cook well in moist heat, such as fish, poultry,
vegetables, and soups. To convert regular recipes for microwaving,
try cutting the cooking time to one-fourth or one-third; test the food and
continue cooking for short periods until it reaches the desired doneness.
Microwaves vary in power, so follow your manufacturer’s timing instructions. If
you are adapting a recipe for the microwave, remember to reduce the liquid used
by about one-third and to keep food pieces similar in size so they will cook
evenly.
POACHING. To poach a food, typically chicken or fish,
immerse it in a pan of just-simmering liquid on top of the stove. Liquids
commonly used include wine, water, and fat-free, low-sodium broths. After you
poach the food, remove it and, if using a cooking liquid other than water,
rapidly boil the liquid to reduce it to a sauce.
SLOW COOKING. Slow cookers can make it easy to have a
home-cooked dinner waiting at the end of a busy day. Be sure to layer the
ingredients as the recipe directs, because foods cook faster at the bottom of
the cooker. Cover the cooker and cook on low or high, as directed. Unless the
recipe says otherwise, it’s best not to uncover or stir the contents while they
cook because you’ll let out heat and moisture.
STEAMING. Steam food by placing it in a steamer basket
over simmering water in a tightly covered saucepan or skillet. Especially good
for vegetables, steaming leaves the natural flavor, color, and nutritional
value of food intact. Any food that can be simmered or boiled can be steamed.
Try adding herbs to the water or using low-sodium broth, wine, or fruit juice
instead of water to add even more flavor to the finished dish.
STIR-FRYING. The high temperature and the constant
movement of stir-frying in a small amount of hot oil preserves the color and
crispness of vegetables and seals in the juices of meats, poultry, and seafood
as they cook. Traditionally, stir-frying is done in a wok with sloping sides,
but a large skillet will also work well. Take the time to prep ingredients and
measure out sauces before you start to cook, because stir-frying goes quickly
once begun. Many stir-fry recipes call for soy sauce, which is usually very
high in sodium. Read labels and choose the lowest-sodium version available.
ROASTING AND BAKING. Roasting and baking use dry heat to cook
foods. For roasting poultry and meats, trim and discard all visible fat and
place the food on a rack; that will keep the food from sitting in fat drippings
while it cooks. Baste with low-sodium, fat-free liquids, such as broth, wine,
no-salt-added tomato juice, or fresh lemon juice, to keep the food moist. Test
for doneness with an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part
of the meat but not touching bone. Because roasting caramelizes their natural
sugars, it is also excellent for cooking many types of vegetables. For baking,
which usually uses lower temperatures than roasting, you don’t need a rack.
Follow the recipe directions for whether to cover the pot. Poultry, seafood,
and meat dishes can be baked in covered cookware with a little liquid to add
flavor and keep food moist; casseroles, breads, and many desserts also call for
baking.
This topic is taken from American Heart Association Book Low-Salt CookBook 4th Edition For information Purposes.
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