Recipe: Low Sodium Recipes for Tracy/CA

Flank Steak with Portobello Mushrooms and Wine
(Here's our take on a familiar concept that begins with a good piece of meat and demonstrates the virtues of wine as a substitute for salt to create basic flavor.)
Serves 4; 161 mgs. of sodium per serving

1 flank steak
1 cup red wine
2 portobello mushroom caps cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 shallot, diced
dash of garlic powder
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup unsalted canned tomatoes plus 1/2 cup of juice from the can
1 tbsp. dried parsley
pinch of dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place a shallow roasting pan or ovenproof dish in the oven to heat up. Season the meat with the pepper and garlic powder. Heat a heavy skillet to high heat on top of the stove. Sear the steak in the hot skillet on both sides so that it browns thoroughly and juices are sealed in. Transfer the steak to the pan in the oven to finish cooking (about 10 minutes for medium), then remove it from the oven and set it aside.

Meanwhile, use half of the wine to deglaze the skillet, scraping in the residue of the meat with a wooden spoon, and allow it to cook until almost gone. Add the shallot and reduce the heat to low. Add the slices of mushrooms, cook 2 minutes per side and remove from the skillet. Add the rest of the wine and allow it to cook until almost evaporated. Add the tomato, parsley and oregano and cook at a simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the steak from the pan in the oven set it aside to rest. Return the mushrooms to the skillet on the stove and cook one minute to heat through. Slice the steak on the bias, arrange the slices on a plate with the mushrooms and sauce and serve.

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Veal Scallopini
For this dish, you need veal cutlets pounded very thin (about 1/4 inch); a good butcher will have them already prepared. To pound them yourself, put each piece of meat between two sheets of waxed paper and wallop it with the flat bottom of a heavy skillet.
Serves 4; 84 mgs. of sodium per serving

4 veal cutlets pounded thin
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt-free chili powder
olive oil
4 tbsps. unsalted butter
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup parsley
freshly ground pepper

Combine the flour and chili powder so that they are well mixed, then dredge the meat with mixture. Heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil and melt 1 tbsp. of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meat and cook on one side until the edges begin to whiten and juices begin to appear on the raw surface; then flip over to cook the other side for a few more minutes until just cooked through.

As each piece cooks, remove it to a dish in a warm oven. When the meat has cooked, add the wine and lemon juice to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon to deglaze (dissolve the bits of cooked meat), then add the rest of the butter and stir to combine, followed by the parsley and black pepper. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the parsely wilts.

To serve, put each piece of meat on a plate with a generous spoonful of sauce from the pan.

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Baked Chicken with Apple Cider and Apples
Apples, ginger and cinnamon take chicken in a promising direction that makes salt wholly irrelevant.
Serves 6; 82 mgs. of sodium per serving

3 lbs. chicken pieces
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup flour 1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsps. brown sugar
2 medium apples

Remove the skin and fat from the chicken pieces and wash them in cold water. Put the cider in a large bowl, add the chicken pieces and allow to marinate for a few hours or overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the the flour, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper to another bowl and stir to blend. Remove the chicken from the cider marinade and reserve the liquid.

Dip each chicken piece in the flour mixture so that it is well coated, then place in a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes. Core the apple, cut it into thin slices and add them to the cider marinade. Remove the chicken from the baking pan, pour in the cider-apple mixture, return the chicken to the pan and bake for another 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken pieces to a serving dish. Deglaze the pan and, if necessary, cook down the cider-apple mixture to make a sauce. If it has cooked down too much already, add a little cider. Serve the chicken pieces using the cider- apple mixture as a sauce

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Chicken Tenders
Our version of the fast-food favorite. This is a great meal for families where everyone works or goes to school - pick up the chicken breasts on the way home and get dinner on the table in 20 minutes. It also happens to be delicious. We like cumin and black pepper, but you can experiment with any spice you want to flavor the flour.
Serves 4; 82 mgs. of sodium per serving

4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into one-inch cubes.
vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp. cumin
generous grinding of pepper
lemon wedges

Combine the flour, cumin and pepper in a paper bag. Put the chicken pieces in the bag and shake until all the pieces are evenly coated with the flour mixture. (You can also dredge each piece of chicken separately, but it takes longer.)

Pour enough oil into a large skillet to cover the bottom to a depth of 1/8 inch. When the oil is heated, drop the chicken pieces in it. Cook for about five minutes on one side, then turn and cook for another five minutes. Remove cooked pieces to a plate lined with a paper towel so that the oil drains off.

Serve with a sprinkling of lemon juice, lemon wedges or salt-free hot sauce

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Two Chicken Stew
This is a great dish, but it takes several hours to cook - a wonderful project for a cold rainy day.
Serves 6 to 8; mgs. of sodium per serving

2 whole small chickens (3.5 lbs each)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 bunch fesh sage (a dozen leaves or more)
1 bunch of fresh thyme
1 bunch of parsley, washed
2 tbsps. black whole peppercorns
4 large carrots peeled and cut in 1-inch lengths
10 new potatoes, quartered
2 medium tomatoes, diced
4 quarts of water

Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch Oven and saute the onion and the herbs in it for about 10 minutes. Add chickens, water and peppercorns, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and allow to simmer for four hours. Use a large spoon to skim off the fat as it collects on the surface.

After four hours, turn off the heat and allow to cool. Take the chickens out of the pot, and remove and discard any skin and fat. Separate the meat from the bones a break the meat into bite-sized pieces.

Use a ladle to strain the liquid through a fine strainer or collander into a bowl and return half of the liquid to the pot. Add the chicken, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook for an hour and a half.

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Refried Beans
Fried mashed beans topped with cheese are a delicious Mexican tradition; unfortunately the tradition usually calls for frying the beans with bacon fat or salt pork. Here's our take on a dish we consider too good to give up because of salt. We like it fine as is, but if you miss the bacon-fat flavor, try adding 1/4 tsp. of liquid smoke as you cook the onion, garlic and pepper.
Serves 4; 65 mgs. of sodium per serving

2 15-oz. cans of salt-free black beans (or 4 cups black beans cooked without salt)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalepeno pepper, minced
olive oil as needed
3 tsps. ground cumin
3 tsps. rice vinegar or cider vinegar
several slices of unsalted cheese (gouda or Swiss

Heat 2 tbsps. of oil in a large skillet with a cover. Add the onion, garlic and pepper and cook uncovered over medium heat for several minutes, until the onion begins to caramelize (turn brown).

Drain the beans and reserve one cup of the liquid from the cans or cooking pot. Add the beans to the skillet, one cup at a time, mashing them with a fork and stirring them into the onion mixture. Continue to add and mash the beans until all are mashed and well mixed with the onions, garlic and pepper.

Add the cumin and vinegar to the liquid from the beans and stir. Pour this mixture over the beans in the skillet and stir to blend. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until the liquid cooks down and the mixture begins to thicken. Turn off the heat and allow the refried beans to stand for five minutes; they will thicken more as they cool.

Then spread the pieces of cheese on top of the beans, cover the skillet and turn on the fire again to medium. Heat for just a few minutes, until the cheese melts. Sprinkle each serving with fresh cilantro leaves.

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Pork Chops with Tomatoes and Peppers
Serves 5; 80 mgs. of sodium per serving

5 center cut pork chops
2 tbsps. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, roughly chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped or 2 cups unsalted canned
1 cup white wine
1 tbsp. fresh basil or equivalent dried
1 sprig of fresh thyme or equivalent dried
2 tbsps. balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a skillet large enough to hold all the pork chops. Brown the chops on both sides and remove to a plate. Pour cup of the white wine into the pan and stir with a wooden spoon to deglaze (i.e. dissolve the residue of the meat in the wine to create a dark sauce).

Add the garlic and onions and cook for a few minutes, stirring, until the onions become translucent. Add the green pepper and cook for another minute or so, until it begins to soften. Add the tomatoes, basil, thyme, vinegar and the rest of the wine. Allow the mixture to cook for about two minutes over medium heat so that the flavors begin to combine.

Return the pork chops to the pan, including any juice that has drained off them while they were out of the pan. Distribute the chops so that all are at least partially covered by the sauce.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, until the pork chops are thoroughly cooked and tender. If the mixture seems too liquid after 30 minutes, remove the cover so that the sauce cooks down for the last several minutes.