Main Ingredient

February 18, 2011

Love Your Heart Recipe Rally

I had a dream. I know. I’m one national holiday too late. But still, I had a dream. And no, it wasn’t the one where I was flying over buildings or showing up late to school without my pants. Or flying pant-less over buildings to make it to school on time. That would be absurd. This was a real life dream and something that could impact more than just me and my personal well-being. This was something that had the potential to change people’s approach to food. To health. To life. This was a dream about making bagels, pizza, and […]

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February 11, 2011

Big Love, Big News, Big Treats

Love food. Love others. But most of all, love yourself. That’s the message of today’s post and my attempt to tie three big topics together under one little photo of a chocolate covered quinoa treat. To begin, I wanted to give a quick update about next week’s “Love Your Heart Recipe Rally.” (BIG LOVE) Yes, the whole idea was a bit last minute, but amazingly, in just a few days, some wonderful bloggers – none of whom have any low sodium dietary restrictions – have joined the Rally and have agreed to take on the challenge of cooking food with […]

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January 31, 2011

Queso Fundido

Hello friends, as of late and longtime. This week we are training for the big event on Sunday – the Super Bowl – and we are starting with a dish that is loosely dedicated to Cheese Heads across the nation. Today, we are making a dip that will satisfy low sodium eaters and salty snackers alike. Today, we are putting the “o.k.” in queso and the “fun” in fundido. Traditionally, queso fundido is a creamy blend of cheeses that includes tomatoes, chorizo, and peppers and is often served with tortilla chips. So to make it low sodium, I needed to […]

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January 21, 2011

Me, You, Blue River Stew

It has been a food education-palooza this week. I’ve clocked approximately 8.7 hours of watching Food Network competitions and past episodes of Top Chef. I’ve made shrimp-less shrimp curry with fellow blogger and Wiley Publishing author, Allison Fishman, over Skype. And tonight, I’m taking a very prestigious course in chicories (read: free wine and fun Bi-Rite staff) at 18 Reasons. That’s a lot of info-cramming for one low sodium brain. But of all the didactic shenanigans, I have to say that one of the must fulfilling (and filling) events in these past seven days has been recipe testing for food52.com’s […]

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January 10, 2011

Cacciator-Me if You Can

On Saturday night, my mom and I decided to throw a little family love fest. With eleven relatives and one small dog in attendance, we decided to keep it casual. Nothing fancy. Just hearty food to beat the winter chill and good conversation. But when someone says the words “dinner party,” I have a hard time holding back. The hostess gene gets activated (I have five aprons that need wearing, for goodness sake) and I want nothing more than to give my guests a great eating experience. And if that means three hours of simmering meat, then that’s exactly what I’ll […]

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January 3, 2011

Low Sodium Stickers

Hello and happy new year, everyone. And what a year it will be. While I was gone, eating my way through New Zealand and Bangkok for a month – tough life – it seemed like the reasons to celebrate in 2011 were piling up almost as high as my mail: Stanford goes to the Orange Bowl, a handful of friends get engaged, and I get a….well, this last one will just have to wait for a few more weeks to be revealed. And it’s not a baby. But back to the point, the signs from the universe were undeniably clear: […]

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December 17, 2010

Hot Holiday Tamales – Part Uno

As I cleaned out my camera this morning – apparently a year’s worth of food photos had eaten up all the space on my memory card, fancy that – I was transported to the Christmas tamale feast I shared with my family a year ago. Smells of roasted tomatoes and memories of creamy masa made my heart pump and my stomach grumble. Since I am not able to partake in the festivities this year, I thought it only appropriate to revisit this wonderful two-part adventure of corn husking and rolling. So please, feast with your eyes and if you are […]

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December 14, 2010

Green Bundles of Joy

For those of you who have read this blog for a while, you know about my tumultuous relationship with bacon. I live for the stuff and as a child, weekends and Sunday mornings (before going to temple – isn’t that ironic) were synonymous with the smell of bacon. Even though I had to give the salty-stuff up, I still find myself craving the crisp bite and smoky flavors that define this breakfast treat and for the past few years, I have been determined to find a low sodium substitute. I even went so far as to try and cure it […]

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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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October 8, 2010

Unusual Pearings

I had the pleasure of low sodium lunching yesterday at the always creative, always delicious Boulette’s Larder. With a table outside, ferry boats pulling into harbor, and Blue Angels soaring overhead, it was the most idyllic setting imaginable. And not to be outdone, the food was equally mind-blowing. What I love most about Boulette’s Larder is that head chef and owner, Amaryll Schwertner, truly celebrates ingredients in their most simple form. Dishes are not spectacular because of foams or foie gras or some other form of culinary acrobatics. They food is good – no, it’s great – because she matches […]

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