Get the Salt Out (63 page)

Drop heaping teaspoonfuls onto an oiled cookie sheet, press a whole almond into the top of each cookie, and bake at 350
degrees until light brown, about 5 minutes. The cookies will harden more as they cool.
Makes approximately 20 cookies.

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If you add raisins or other dried fruits to baked desserts,
be sure to avoid those fruits preserved with sodium bisulfite, another form of unhealthy sodium in our diets. This preservative adds to our sodium load and is a common allergen that can cause health-threatening reactions in many people. Look in natural food stores for dried fruits that aren’t treated with sulfites.

BONUS TIP:
Feel free to add chopped nuts to cookies and cakes. Nuts are sugar-free and virtually sodium-free, and they supply protein and high-quality fats that slow down the quick release of sugar from sweets into the bloodstream. They also are packed with minerals like potassium and magnesium, which most of our diets are lacking. For all of these reasons, I find nuts healthful, flavorful, and extremely satisfying ingredients to add to baked goods.

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The main source of sodium in pies is the salt in the crust.
(Fruit pies, for example, have extremely low-sodium fillings.) Fortunately, the salt in recipes for piecrust usually can be reduced and sometimes can be skipped altogether. In the following recipe from
Secrets of Salt-Free Cooking,
Jeanne Jones has created a piecrust recipe that uses cider vinegar in place of salt. If you’re extremely sensitive to salt—or if you have a recipe for pie filling that’s slightly salty (such as cheesecake filling)—use this Perfect Salt-Free Piecrust.
One Salt Shaker.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Put the flour into a 9-inch pie pan. Measure the oil in a large measuring cup, add the ice water and vinegar, and mix well, using a fork. Slowly add the liquid to the flour in the pie pan, mixing it with the fork. Continue mixing until all the ingredients are well blended. Press into shape with your fingers, making sure the crust covers the entire inner surface of the pan evenly If the recipe calls for a prebaked crust, prick the bottom of the crust with a fork in several places and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Makes one 9-inch piecrust

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Another way to get the salt out is to eliminate the crust altogether:
make a fresh fruit crisp or fruit crumble instead.
One Salt Shaker.

O
nce you understand how and why you should get the salt out of your diet, it’s fairly simple to avoid refined salt and sodium additives in the foods you eat at home. It’s another matter, however, when you eat out.

When you dine in a restaurant, you no longer oversee every ingredient used in the preparation of your meal. That’s part of the fun of eating out, but it’s also part of the problem. In exchange for the pleasure of having other people prepare food for you, you put yourself at the mercy of the chef. Even when cooks don’t add salt themselves, they often use commercially prepared foods that contain unwanted salt as well as sodium-rich flavor enhancers, preservatives, and additives. Excess sodium commonly sneaks into restaurant food this way.

If you are not careful, hidden sodium in restaurant food can sabotage the efforts you’ve made to cut the salt elsewhere in your diet (especially if you eat out often). Prevent this from happening by becoming as knowledgeable and selective about the meals you order in restaurants as you are about the products you buy in grocery stores. You already have a solid foundation for getting the salt out when you eat out: all the salt-cutting
skills you’ve learned in the other chapters can easily be applied to dining in restaurants. The tips in this chapter build on that foundation, teaching you the all-important skills of being a salt-smart diner and traveler.