Meal

December 18, 2013

Southwestern Quinoa Bowl

Right now, the world is filled with caramels, fruit loafs, chocolate covered what-nots, and sugar plum fairies. Everywhere I look, I see sweets and breads and sweet breads. And I’m definitely not complaining about this. It’s my favorite time of year and I enjoy every bite of it. But since the holidays bring with them a major candy and carb rush, it’s nice to find some balance in between all the parties and glasses of bubbles. And by balance I mean a Southwestern Quinoa Bowl, complete with homemade BBQ dressing. And blue corn chips. Yep, balance. It’s a lighter, healthier, more […]

November 25, 2013

Thanksgiving Obsessions

I hope you’re wearing a loose pair of pants right now because I’m about to STUFF you full of Thanksgiving ideas, tips, and yes, some turkey. We are four days away from the big day, people. So it’s time to get seriously serious about all this holiday cooking stuff. But before we get to mashed potatoes and brine-free birds, I want to pass forward this piece of wisdom. To make the best Thanksgiving feast of your life, you only need to do one simple thing: MAKE WHAT YOU WANT. It’s that easy. Forget about recreating the soggy green beans and […]

November 13, 2013

Pomegranate Blackberry Winter Tart

When the ancient philosophers of times long ago decided how things should work, someone silly came up with the idea that dinner always comes before dessert. And I guess I understand. If you served me caramel filled doughnuts before a hearty helping of vegetables, I might never make it to that cauliflower and broccoli course. Let’s be real. But let’s also break the rules. Because sometimes dessert needs to proceed the roasted meat and sautéed greens. Sometimes pumpkin pies need to be replaced with pomegranate and blackberry tarts. And sometimes, as we prep for the Thanksgiving meal ahead, we need […]

November 6, 2013

Greens, Eggs, and Kale French Toast

Let’s talk about leftovers. Kale pesto leftovers, to be exact. After hosting three, yes THREE, parties last weekend, I had two big cups of kale pesto leftovering in my fridge. And after inserting the kale pesto remains into pastas and potatoes and potato pastas, I still had half a dozen globs or so to play with. Which brings me to toast. French toast, to be exact. Typically, french toast is made with a mixture of eggs, milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and perhaps a pinch of cinnamon and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. In sum: it’s sweet. But as you […]

October 11, 2013

Weekly Obsessions

Oh hey new Sodium Girl column! Nice to finally meet you! Yes siree. It’s here. A weekly round-up of awesome and tasty nibbles from the Internet that will keep you appropriately busy and full and inspired all weekend long. For a while now, I have wanted to create a space where I could tell you all about the cool articles I read, dishes I tried, or products that landed on my doorstep during the past week(ish). A space where I could answer questions and give you the information needed to get creative and silly and totally salt-free in your kitchen […]

October 9, 2013

Chinese Five Spice Quinoa Meatballs

When’s the last time you had an Chinese Quinoa Meatball? TRICK QUESTION! Because the answer is probably never, because I totally just made them up. (Please note: no official research was done to confirm this statement). So I guess the better question then is WHEN will you eat a Chinese Quinoa Meatball? Let’s just make that a resounding, SOON! Because these meatballs are the perfect metaphor for satisfying low-sodium living. They’re all about not just losing the salt and sodium, but replacing them with interesting, intriguing, and attractive tastes. Taking salty ducks and turning them into gorgeous low-sodium swans. Or […]

September 27, 2013

Kidney Friendly Pumpkin Quesadillas

Fall. It’s the time of year that people go totally bonkers over pumpkin. Pumpkin spiced lattes. Pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin perfume. Pumpkin colored pants. Pumpkins in windows, on doorsteps, and pretty much every which way you look. Which leads me to this announcement: It’s officially gourd season, people, and we want to be a part of it. So I started thinking of new ways to get more pumpkin in my food and my life. Because as a kidney-friendly and low-sodium ingredient (both in the canned and fresh forms), it will help you spice up and switch up favorite recipes. Of course, there’s […]

September 9, 2013

Baked Tofu Fries

I’m actually going on a vacation. A real life break from real life (kind of). And I can’t wait to tell you all about when I return. But in the meantime I’m leaving you with a Bon Voyage pre-vacation souvenir. I call them Tofu Fries and I really think you should give them a go while I’m gone. They’re really easy to make. Super low-sodium, as long as you make sure your firm tofu contains 0 to 15mg of sodium. And they’re completely addictive so don’t say I didn’t warn you. And apparently Mark Bittman loves them too because a […]

August 30, 2013

Bake-less Low-Sodium “Cheese” Cake

Cheating as a kid is bad. I think I did it once and I’m pretty sure it didn’t make me feel very good. But when you enter adulthood, the rules totally start bending. And “cheating” a bit to make life’s to-do list a little easier, faster, and mostly easier starts being a good thing. And whether you call it cutting corners or life hacking or dry shampoo — taking a short cut every now and then is always acceptable, often genius, and when it comes to overcoming dietary challenges, totally necessary. So let’s do it. Let’s cheat on cheesecake. And let’s […]

August 9, 2013

Zucchini Tortilla Bites

There are exactly three things I am super good at: 1) putting two words together to make one new word; 2) feeding friends during spontaneous gatherings, and 3) finding awesome substitutes for high-sodium ingredients. And low and behold, all three of these highly-useful talents have finally come together in one small bite of food. The Zucchini Tortilla Bite. It’s a snappetizer (snappy appetizer) that can be easily thrown together when unexpected guests arrive, wowing everyone with the pure geniusness (and tastiness) of stringy, melty zucchini used in place of salty cheese. So I’m going to keep it short and spicy this […]

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