DIY Take-Out

December 1, 2011

By The Slice

Most people get their pizza at the local pizza joint. Or from the pizza guy. Or from the pizza counter that offers up hearty pieces of pie by the slice. I got mine in the mail. A few months ago, the lovely couple Tom and Sue of GalloLea Organics sent me an email to ask if I wouldn’t mind trying their low-sodium pizza and new low-sodium pizza sauces. It was like asking me if I wanted chocolate for dinner for the rest of my life. Obviously the answer was a resounding yes, and a few weeks later a little paper […]

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November 7, 2011

Salt-Free Chicken Tortilla Soup

Let me let you in on a little secret… I have been traveling non-stop for the past four weeks and I just flew in from NYC. Boy are my wings tired. So while I collect my thoughts about the most extraordinary trip (and meals) I just had, let me give you this recipe for a salt-free chicken tortilla soup. Even if it is warming up again in your area of the world, this soup will help kick off the fall soup and stew season. And I hope you find more uses for the salt-free, tomato and corn broth you are […]

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October 27, 2011

Low-Sodium Cabbage Spring Rolls

What do you crave? Burgers? Enchiladas? Pate? If your answer was spring rolls, well then you’re in for a real treat today. But before we dive into the low-sodium wrapping and rolling, let’s back up and take a look at why the traditional spring roll may pose a sodium problem. Spring rolls can come in both fried (golden brown, nice and crispy, and often called egg rolls) or non-fried versions (transparent in color and served cold). Either way, they tend to be filled with combinations of noodles, shrimp or crab, shredded carrot, mushrooms, bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, and even bean […]

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October 11, 2011

Low-Sodium Corn Dogs

This story begins with my love of baseball. I know most of the players by name. And by nickname. I can talk trash with the best of them. I’ve caught one fly ball in my life and finagled countless others from catchers and umps. I watched Bonds hit most of his hundred-mark home-runs. I danced in the streets to celebrate the world series. And I dressed up as Brian Wilson for Halloween. The closer. Not the Beach Boy. But my love of baseball would have never been without my love of corn dogs. Or nacho cheese. Or garlic fries, cotton […]

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August 1, 2011

Bibimbap On Over

Very, very special meal! This is the very, very special meal I was so wickedly tempting you with last week. It is called Bibimbap. It is a super traditional Korean dish. It literally means “mixed meal” (because after it is placed in front of you, you best mix all those compartments of yum up). It looks like mother nature’s painting palette. And it is usually off-limits to low-sodium eaters–mostly due to the salty chili pepper paste that is so wonderfully and deliciously dumped all over it. For years, I watched as adventurous eater friends dove into authentic Korean food dives […]

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October 27, 2010

Salt-Free My Recipe: Mama's Enchiladas

A few weeks ago, I received the following, lovely letter from Sodium Girl reader Cindra Fox: Dear Sodium Girl, I’m on a low-sodium diet to prevent complications from migraines. I’ve been on it for over a year now and have found a whole new world of food and flavor that I ignored back when I could just grab a burger at the closest drive-through. What I miss the most, though, is Mom’s famous enchiladas. I’m half-Mexican and we would make these at least once a week. Now it’s been over a year since I’ve had them. But here’s the catch: […]

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August 2, 2010

BBQ (and salt free) Burgers

I love hamburgers. But I hate manning the Bar-B-Q. Actually – true confession – I hardly know how to turn one on. I’m sure it’s simple, but the whole deal with the gas and the coal and the clean-up afterwards…it’s just too much for me to handle. So for those nights, when no one else offers to man the barbie and I’m craving a succulent bite of summer, I take my meat to the stove. This recipe for pan-fried burger literally packs sautéed ginger, garlic, and a flurry of fresh herbs directly into the pattie. A topping of tomato, curried ketchup, […]

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July 30, 2010

Salt-Free My Recipe: Peanut Sauce Pasta

Drumroll please. Today is the first user-submitted Salt-Free My Recipe. And isn’t it a beauty! The original dish, sent in by the wonderful CFoung, includes only one ingredient that this sodium girl can’t have: Jade Sichuan Peanut Sauce. But it is this nutty, spicy, creamy condiment that is the true star, if not the heart and soul, of the dish. Which poses a perfect low sodium challenge. Without the Sichuan Peanut Sauce, you are left with a somewhat boring and sauce-less stir fry. So it was time to put on my cooking cap and come up with a mind-blowing low […]

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June 17, 2010

Low-Sodium Yakisoba

For the second installment of the new, Biting Mr. Bittman series, I figured I should stop fooling around, take a big risk, and attack a recipe that relies heavily on salt. You know, just in case Mr. Bittman is actually reading this blog–good morning, Mark!–and wants some proof that this Sodium Girl really knows how to cook everything, without salt. So I scoured his recent recipes for a true challenge–searching for a dish that usually comes in a take-out box and that uses a lot of soy sauce–basically, something of Asian origin. And after sifting through asparagus pesto and laid-back […]

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March 19, 2010

The Grand Finale

Today, our Hawaiian journey comes to an end.  Time to pack up your bags and head back home to oven cooked risotto cupcakes and Moroccan lamb. What?  That’s not what you’re planning to make next week?  Cause I am. But before we close out this chapter of our low sodium Hawaiian adventure, I have one last recipe that will really set your tongues wagging and heart racing.  Low sodium, Char Sui Spare Ribs.  This is that illustrious, unnaturally colored Chinese pork meat that always sends a pang of jealousy my way.  Whenever Boy and I take a shopping excursion to […]

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