Get the Salt Out (28 page)

176
Use any of the already mentioned stocks as a base,
then add additional vegetables and poultry or meat pieces to create low-salt soups and stews with hearty flavor. Other ingredients that help make soups tasty include:

177
Leftover liquid from cooked beans.
One Salt Shaker.

178
Pureed cooked vegetables like onions and peppers.
One Salt Shaker.

179
Defatted gravies.
One Salt Shaker.

180
Leftover liquid used to soak dried mushrooms or dried tomatoes.
One Salt Shaker.

181
It’s best to salt soup to taste
after
cooking,
but if you do accidentally oversalt your soup during cooking, you can remedy the situation this way. add a peeled and quartered raw potato to the soup, then let the soup simmer for ten to fifteen
minutes. The excess salt will absorb into the potato, and you simply can remove and discard the potato.

182
Sauté chopped vegetables in a few teaspoons of oil or butter first
before adding to soups. The fat used for sauteing brings out the flavor in vegetables more than fat-free broth, which almost always requires extra salt for flavor.
One Salt Shaker.

183
Miso (see tip 65) is a natural for giving a simple vegetable soup more of a salty taste.
But refrain from using this condiment in excess: a teaspoon of miso for every cup of water or stock is usually sufficient to flavor soup without using too much salt. To add miso to soup, dilute it in ¼ cup of broth from the soup, mix it well, then add it to the soup and simmer for another minute. Serve immediately.
Two Salt Shakers.

184
Try adding a teaspoon of minced fresh lovage leaf
to a pot of salt-free soup just before serving. Lovage leaf is an herbal salt substitute that has a flavor somewhat reminiscent of robust celery. You’ll probably be surprised at how well a small amount of this little-known herb can heighten flavor. Look for fresh lovage leaf in the produce section of upscale supermarkets or buy a plant or some seeds and grow your own.
One Salt Shaker.

185
Give soups surprising flavor contrasts
to keep your taste buds so interested that they’ll forget about salt. That’s exactly what Sal Gilbertie, author of
Kitchen Herbs,
does in this recipe. By using varied ingredients like chile peppers, lime juice, lemongrass, and fresh cilantro, he creates an aromatic hot-tart soup with a cooling, refreshing garnish. Even more impressive, this gourmet soup tastes as if it should take a long time to make, but it’s exceedingly simple and quick to prepare.
Two Salt Shakers.