Recipe(tried): Salt substitutes

Hi June,

I'm a "regular" at The Recipe Link. My husband was placed on an extremely low-salt diet about six months ago, so I'll give you some tips as well as some excellent links:

1) Garlic and more garlic!
2) Lemon juice. Brings out flavors you didn't know were there.
3) There are some excellent commercial salt-free herb blends. I especially like McCormick's Salt-Free All-Purpose Seasoning and their It's a Dilly seasoning (both available in supermarkets).
4) Chicken/beef broths: Swanson reduced-sodium broths are only 1/3 lower in sodium than their regular broths. They're okay to use in moderation, but you should dilute them with water. Health Valley makes an EXCELLENT no-salt-added chicken broth (available in some supermarkets and health food stores).
5) Most ready-to-eat canned foods like soups are very high in sodium. Most of the no-salt-added ones taste awful, no matter what you do to them. My husband did find a Health Valley no-salt-added chili that's passable, though.
6) It you buy frozen or canned vegetables, look for "no salt added" ones. Not every supermarket carries every product, but there's quite a variety if you shop around.
7) Watch for "hidden sodium" in foods like bread, biscuits, cakes, etc. Anything that uses baking powder is loaded with sodium. If you're making your own baked goods, you can buy sodium-free Featherweight brand baking powder in health food stores. Use just like regular baking powder.
8) NO PICKLES! You can make your own quick pickles using rice vinegar (check the Asian foods section of stores) and sugar/sugar substitutes. Use for veggies like sliced cucumbers, shredded carrots, etc.
9) NO DELI MEATS like ham, pastrami, regular turkey breast, etc. Some supermarket delis sell sliced no-salt roast turkey breast that's very good.
10) Most commercial salad dressings are also very high in sodium. Make your own. For a creamy dressing, we like to mix 3 parts plain nonfat yogurt (Brown Cow Farm is the creamiest brand) with 1 part tahini (sesame seed paste, from health food stores). That's good over cooked veggies, too.
11) Watch the sodium content in cheese. Alpine Lace and Sargento reduced-sodium cheeses are pretty good.
12) Check with your doctor as to whether you can use potassium-based salt substitutes. I think they have an unpleasant undertaste, but my husband doesn't mind them.

And now for the links:
Jon's Place is a very detailed website for people with congestive heart failure (don't know if that's what you have, but typically chf patients are placed on extremely low-sodium diets). He has cooking tips and recipes at:
http://www.chfpatients.com/rec/recipes.htm

"The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook" by Donald A. Gazzaniga is the best low-sodium cookbook I've found. I borrowed it from the library and copied the recipes I want. There's also a website
associated with this book, "http://www.megaheart.com/thekitchen.html that has a few of its recipes.

Good luck with your salt-free diet! It typically will take a few weeks to retrain your taste buds to salt-free cooking, but you will discover the "real" taste of foods and be healthier in return!

Susan, Hawaii

Editor's Note:
Excerpt and Sample Recipes from the The No Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook:
Salt-Free Flavor Enhancers
Sweet-Hot Barbecue Sauce
Sandwich Buns (bread machine)