Revisiting low salt diet
 

I wrote recently for advice on a low(er) salt diet. Thanks for the replies and for the info about the Mayo Clinic recipes - very helpful! I have two specific follow up questions. We are having a hard time finding a lower salt substitute for rice, quinoa, or couscous. We used to use mixes in a box or a pouch. Now we have been making plain from scratch, but it's so plain it tastes like cardboard. It's hard to believe we will ever just get used to plain rice. Any ideas on that? Also, what about pizza? Frozen or fresh pizza is out. How can you make one at home that tastes good? Even if you buy a Boboli crust it's already got a ton of salt in it. Do I need to make the crust too?

I did a lot of lower salt cooking for my dad, and yeah, I did baking too.

Pizza? Kind of a project, IMO, since so many of the good pizza toppings are salt bombs by nature. (cheeses included, sigh.) On the other hand, I learned to love fresh pineapple on homemade pizza. :)

My memory is a bit fuzzy on this one, but I think that when I bought bread and other packaged goods for dad I checked to see that a single serving didn't provide more than ten percent of a daily recommended amount of sodium. I think at that level, if we were super careful with the rest of his diet, things were okay.

OTOH, my dad's heart issues were very advanced.

I'm thinking that if you just want to reduce the total amount of sodium you're getting, starting now to do the homemade breads thing is a reasonably fun way to go.

In terms of basic flavor for good pizza dough, I do still like Alton Brown's recipe, but I lowered the salt back then without much harm to the overall goal.

For sauces, there are tons of good recipes out there, I'd check Serious Eats, they had lots of pizza sauce varieties, and crusts too. Just depends on what you want.
FYI, since my stand mixer took a dive off the counter onto the floor, I've just been mixing my doughs by hand and letting them rest for a day or four to help with gluten development.

If you're into Youtubers, Adam Raguesa has a fairly laid back attitude, but a sensible approach to helping you understand which bits matter most when you want to start messing around with the recipes. I do like his pizza dough recipe as well, again, I use less salt than recommended, without much issue. (Salt does play a role in the development of the dough, but for me, leaving it out is mostly a flavor change thing.)

Another way to approach the issue is to kind of deconstruct it. Make bread sticks portioned in whatever way works for you, and make your own sauces to dip in. Not quite pizza, but it hits the fresh bread/sauce part of things.


In terms of grains, I'm all about my el-cheapo rice cooker from Walmart. I think mine cost $15? Seriously. Super easy and cheap. It takes a little experimenting to figure out how much water to use so they don't cook up mushy, but once you get it, it's smooth sailing.

In terms of developing flavor for grain dishes, think of it more like a pilaf or risotto, where you saute some aromatics like onion, garlic, carrot and celery, then add the grain and some broth, then cook it.

Also, your spice rack is your friend. I much prefer making my own spice blends, since the lower sodium varieties never thrilled me much. Seek out cajun blends or no-sodium Lowry's copycats. I tend to add what I like and leave the rest. (Also, don't forget that MSG is sodium, straight up, so give it a hard pass for this sort of application.)

No need to go overboard on expensive spices, either. Badia and Watkins brands are fairly cheap, but reasonably tasty.
If you do want to shop online, give Penzeys or Spice House a try, but don't buy vast quantities in bulk unless you're prepared to work your way through it with patience. :) (I put mine in a mason jar, worked fine, but I did ultimately decide that I like McCormick black pepper, but now I mostly grind the peppercorns myself.)


In terms of store-bought chicken broth powders, Herb-Ox makes a lower sodium variety that's not half bad. I put a packet of that in the rice cooker with the water, and it cooks up tasty.

Hope this is helpful. :)

I like Benson's Table Tasty as a no-salt substitute.

Benson's has other salt-free seasonings but my DH and I like "Table Tasty" the most.

You can find Benson's Table Tasty at this link:

https://www.bensonsgourmetseasonings...e-3-oz-bottle/

Most of the time I eat my food (rice, beans, vegetables, etc) without Table Tasty and without any seasoning because I love the taste of whole natural foods. It takes about a month of eating food without salt before your taste buds adjust.

Pizza crust: i recently discovered cauliflower crust pizza. i don't even miss the bread. i haven't compared the labels to see whether there is a reduction in sodium.


Rice: because i am asian, steamed rice has always been plain. and on the rare occasion that i eat rice, it's a small amount - like the size of a golf ball.

i used to lurk at a South Beach Diet forum and this couple shared that they wanted "pizza" and instead, made a homemade sauce, excluded the crust, and spiralized cucumber and other veggies and made a pizza-tasting pasta. sometimes, it's just the flavor you crave. it will take time for you to adjust to this, but this was their strategy.

quinoa and couscous - i have usually eaten these in salads using vinaigrette dressing. instead of salt, you can experiment with fresh garlic. i use bottled garlic because i am too lazy to peel and mince fresh garlic.:o

fresh garlic is also a good substitute for asian soy sauce. soy sauce is pure sodium and a good target to eat less of.

Sauces: prepared/canned tomato sauce, spaghetti sauces, and packaged seasonings are loaded with sodium - gradually shift to fresh. instead of salt, use fresh or caramelized onions.

if you want a cheesy flavor, Bragg's nutritional yeast is low-sodium.

another cheese strategy is to just eat less. you'll find just a sliver or sprinkle of it is all you need. or pick a really strong-flavored one so that you could eat less of it and still get the flavor.

make gradual changes to allow your taste buds to adapt.

Hi,
Try cooking rice, quinoa, and couscous using homemade bone broth. It adds some flavor.

Also, try using brown rice instead of white (if you are using white rice). Brown rice also have more flavor than white rice.

I actually love the taste of plain rice. I know it's hard to believe, but you will get used to how things taste with less salt. I have high blood pressure and the doctor has recommended that I try to limit salt. We stopped eating pizza altogether except for very rare occasions and I was dreading the change. Prior to that I would have told you that it was my favorite food and could happily eat it every single day. Know what? I don't miss pizza.

You have gotten some great recommendations. I get frustrated sometimes because once you start reading labels, it's disheartening to see actually how much sodium is in most foods. Go gradually and try to find some balance. Don't make yourselves miserable over how awful the food tastes but do try to cut out the big offenders in the beginning until you get adjusted.

i remember when i first drank reduced sodium V8. i thought it was really awful! i think i ended up throwing it out.

fast forward years later - when i drink it, i can actually taste what little sodium is in it. i can taste all of the veggies in it - beet juice, tomato juice, carrot juice. and it's loaded with potassium, the antidote to sodium in your body.

Just popping in to say thanks to all for the great suggestions!! I appreciate the time you guys took to respond so thoughtfully. We are looking to cut back some on sodium in our household as well before it becomes a medical necessity.

I've also noticed how few "low sodium" products there are, and those tend to have the flavor of cardboard. The marketing focus seems to be on "low fat" and then they load the product with sugar and/or salt.

Oh, you know, it's finally occurred to me to just mention that you want to make sure dry goods in your pantry are well stored. I have found that mason jars work well, but there are lots of other options out there.

Sometimes foods will pick up the flavors of their packaging, so it's important to store larger amounts as carefully as you can, and also to shop from reputable retailers. (For example, years ago I hardly ever shopped at the store nearest to my current house because it seemed as though a lot of their stuff was stale or just old. Badly stored, for too long, you know? ) If you have a persistent problem getting things to taste good, check the freshness of the grains.

Another general thing is to just keep working to expand your cooking skills so you learn a lot of different ways to boost flavor that suit your own taste buds.

I am also struck by how many gluten free foods there are in comparison to low sodium foods. It seems like there must be just as many people who need low salt as there are who need no gluten.