March 16, 2012

Low-Sodium Thousand Island Sliders

A few interesting things happened this morning.

I lugged every piece of heavy cooking equipment out of the cabinets. Food processor. Stand up mixer. Blender.

I covered my kitchen in flour.

I whipped up salt-free burger buns in less than an hour. Really.

And I totally dominated an all veggie, low-potassium, low-sodium slider with low-sodium drippy and delicious thousand island dressing.

A recipe that not only completes this week’s run of drive-through makeovers for Nick Cannon. But also lends itself perfectly to introducing you to a low-sodium reuben sandwich recipe (made by my amazing sis-in-law and her boy-toy) that you can enjoy this St. Patty’s day. Complete with corned beef, rye bread, and of course, that drippy and delicious thousand island dressing.

And because I put lots of fresh herbs and broccoli into my veggie patties, they ended up kind of green. Which is just so holiday-appropriate and will prevent your from getting pinched.

All of this before 11 o’clock. And before I’ve finished my first cup of coffee. Proving that low-sodium food can be fast food. Made with even the most un-caffeinated brain cells.

So skip the take-out and make your own saucy sliders at home. And of course, if you don’t have to watch your protein intake, go ahead and make meat-based burgers with any salt-free seasonings that you desire. But if you can’t do pork, beef, or poultry, these garbanzo and mushroom patties pack a lot of flavor punch. And you won’t be disappointed.

Enjoy. Happy weekend. Chow on.

SUPER QUICK ROSEMARY BURGER BUNS

adapted from Taste of Home, makes 12 slider buns

Ingredients 

  • 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt-free garlic powder
  • 5 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed
  • 4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions 

Preheat your oven to 425dg F.

In a stand up mixer, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add the oil and sugar, and let it stand and bubble for 5 minutes. Add the egg, garlic powder, rosemary leaves, and 2 cups of flour. Turn the mixer on medium and begin to form your dough.

Continue adding flour and mixing until a dough ball forms (which it will..just be patient). The dough should be elastic but not sticky, so keep adding flour until you get there.

Here’s the best part of this recipe: Do not let the dough rise. Seriously. It works. Lightly flour your working surface (i.e. counter) and simply divide the dough ball into 12 pieces. Shape each into a slider-sized ball. And place 3 inches apart on greased baking sheets.Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

+ Sodium Count: As sodium free as can be

SUPER LOW-SODIUM THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

adapted from Toast-Tite Recipes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup hemp seed oil mayonnaise (GOOD Garlic Mayonaise – 5mg of sodium per 1 tbsp)
  • 2 tablespoons no-salt added tomato puree (Pomi is a great brand and if you need to watch your potassium, use home-roasted red peppers)
  • 1 tbsp low-sodium horseradish (Manischewitz Creamy Horseradish – 15mg per 1 teaspoon)
  • 2 tsp diced yellow onion
  • Optional: 1 to 2 tablespoons diced, home-pickled cucumbers

for more low-sodium DIY fun, check out the Toast-Tite Recipe blog for instructions on how to make your own mayonnaise and horseradish sauce

Directions

Place mayo, tomato puree, horseradish, and onion in food processor and blend on high until the horseradish and the onion are fully minced and mixed. Fold in the pickles and get ready to spread.

+ Sodium Count: Hemp seed oil mayonnaise: 5mg per 1 tbsp, depending on brand; Canned tomato puree: 15mg per 1/2 cup, depending on brand; Prepared horseradish: 15 to 20mg per 1 teaspoon depending on brand; Cucumber: 1mg per 1/2 cup sliced

SUPER EASY VEGGIE PATTIES

  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1/4 salt-free pumpkin seeds (or other nuts)
  • 1/2 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms
  • 1 1/2 cups no-salt added garbanzo beans (about one can)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh dill, cilantro, or chives
  • 1 cup salt-free breadcrumbs, crumbed salt-free matzoh crackers, OR no-sodium wheat cornflakes
  • Olive oil
Directions

Place carrots, pumpkin seeds, and shiitake mushrooms in a food processor and blend. Add the garbanzos, eggs,  crumbs or cornflakes, spices and herbs and blend until everything is mixed and chunky. The patty mixture should be moist and easily moldable. But feel free to stir in more dried breadcrumbs (or crumbed crackers or cornflakes), if you want more texture.

Then, heat the a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium low, add 2 to 4 patties (as long as you don’t overcrowd the pan), and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms begin brown.  Flip the patties and cook the second side for another 8 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and place on a cooling rack or plate while you cook the remaining patties. You can also bake the patties in the oven for 12 minutes at 375dg F if you wish to avoid all that flipping action.

Place the patties inside your freshly baked burger buns. Slather with low-sodium thousand island dressing, greens, and any other toppings. And devour immediately.

And if you have leftover veggie patty batter, go ahead and bake them to make falafel meatballs.

+ Sodium Count: Carrots: 42mg per medium carrot; Pumpkin seeds: 5mg per 1/4 cup; Shiitake mushroom: 2mg per mushroom; No-salt-added chickpeas: 10mg per 1/2 cup, depending on brand; Eggs: 71mg per large egg

Susan Tweeton March 21, 2012 at 4:55 pm

I love rosemary sandwich buns. I’ve made some with the addition of freshly ground black pepper. I think the more flavorings you can add to low sodium bread, the better. I also like the idea of horseradish in thousand island dressing. That’s another ingredient that add a huge flavor punch. The “burger” patties sound good too.

kate September 12, 2012 at 5:35 pm

is there a recipe for the hemp oil mayo? I JUST got my first bottle of Organic Hemp Oil from Vitacost this past weekend. I have my own salad dressing (Italian, for salads), so was wondering tonight, what I’m going to make first with the Hemp oil. Can you use it to bake with, as in sweets?? I have NO idea what to expect as far as taste.
Thanks for any info you can pass along :=)
Kate

j April 21, 2013 at 3:14 pm

It would be nice if there was a way to print the individual recipes without using 9 pages of paper, of which many could not be used. It isn’t wise to haul my tablet into my kitchen to try to follow a recipe, then end up writing it down to print it anyway. However , you have some very unusual ideas and they have some promise for me. Thank you.

jessg23 April 24, 2013 at 11:31 am

Working on it!

Jen June 10, 2013 at 6:56 pm

I finally made the slider buns! These are AMAZING! Thank you for the recipe! I made them slightly bigger to fit a regular size hamburger. Delicious! 🙂

Mona December 12, 2013 at 9:27 pm

You guys should take iPhone pictures of the recipes you want instead of printing them. Great reference.

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