Get the Salt Out by C.N.S. Ph.D. Ann Louise Gittleman
Authors: C.N.S. Ph.D. Ann Louise Gittleman
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immediately.
Two Salt Shakers.
184Try 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.
185Give 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.
SPICY THAI SHRIMP SOUP WITH FRESH CILANTRO
3 quarts homemade chicken stock
2 (6-inch) fresh lemongrass stalks, sliced
1 to 2 red chile peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
Zest of 1 lime
½ pound fresh straw mushrooms
1 pound large shrimp (12 to 15 per pound), shelled and deveined
⅔ cup fresh lime juice
4 scallions, sliced
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
In a large soup pot, combine the broth, lemongrass, chile peppers, and lime zest. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Lift out the lime zest and discard. Add the mushrooms and shrimp; simmer for 4 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Transfer the shrimp to a serving bowl and pour in the broth. Sprinkle with the scallions and cilantro.
Serves 4.
186For convenience, look for no-salt soup mixes or make your own. Popular commercial soup starters and instant cups of soup may be handy, but they actually are small salt mines, often containing more than 500 milligrams of sodium and sometimes as much as 1,000 milligrams per cup! To avoid all that salt, plan ahead and make this simple Speedy Soup Mix. It will allow you the same no-fuss soup preparation commercial soup starters do, but with five to ten times less sodium. This versatile recipe is another one from
Deliriously Simple
by Harriet Roth.
One Salt Shaker.
SPEEDY SOUP MIX
¼ cup small white beans or lima beans
¼ cup red kidney beans or pinto beans
¼ cup green or yellow split peas or lentils
¼ cup barley or brown rice
3 tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes
3 tablespoons freeze-dried chopped shallot
½ teaspoon garlic flakes
¼ cup freeze-dried mushrooms
3 tablespoons dehydrated vegetable flakes
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon crushed salt-free vegetable seasoning
1 teaspoon dried Italian herb blend or herbes de Provence, crushed
To store, combine all the ingredients and place in a covered container or plastic bag.
Makes 2 cups dry mix.
To prepare, combine 1 recipe dry soup mix with 8 cups of water or salt-free chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth in a 4-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 to 1½ hours, or until the beans are tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Remove bay leaf before serving.
187Don’t be fooled by canned soup labels that sound good for you. Remember that manufacturers often try to cleverly label foods to capitalize on consumers’ interest in eating better. Here are a few examples. Campbell’s Home Cookin’ Minestrone certainly sounds as if it should be full of goodness, but hydrolyzed wheat gluten, yeast extract, MSG, and 990 milligrams of sodium aren’t what most people expect in a cup of good, old-fashioned, home-cooked soup. Healthy Choice makes a country vegetable soup that delivers on its lower-sodium claims, but with 430 milligrams per cup it’s still notexactly
low
in sodium. (In addition, it contains unwanted sugar, maltodextrin, and added color.) Campbell’s Healthy Request Minestrone is labeled MSG-free—which it is—but it also contains disodium inosinate and disodium
Two Salt Shakers.
184Try 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.
185Give 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.
SPICY THAI SHRIMP SOUP WITH FRESH CILANTRO
3 quarts homemade chicken stock
2 (6-inch) fresh lemongrass stalks, sliced
1 to 2 red chile peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
Zest of 1 lime
½ pound fresh straw mushrooms
1 pound large shrimp (12 to 15 per pound), shelled and deveined
⅔ cup fresh lime juice
4 scallions, sliced
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
In a large soup pot, combine the broth, lemongrass, chile peppers, and lime zest. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Lift out the lime zest and discard. Add the mushrooms and shrimp; simmer for 4 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Transfer the shrimp to a serving bowl and pour in the broth. Sprinkle with the scallions and cilantro.
Serves 4.
186For convenience, look for no-salt soup mixes or make your own. Popular commercial soup starters and instant cups of soup may be handy, but they actually are small salt mines, often containing more than 500 milligrams of sodium and sometimes as much as 1,000 milligrams per cup! To avoid all that salt, plan ahead and make this simple Speedy Soup Mix. It will allow you the same no-fuss soup preparation commercial soup starters do, but with five to ten times less sodium. This versatile recipe is another one from
Deliriously Simple
by Harriet Roth.
One Salt Shaker.
SPEEDY SOUP MIX
¼ cup small white beans or lima beans
¼ cup red kidney beans or pinto beans
¼ cup green or yellow split peas or lentils
¼ cup barley or brown rice
3 tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes
3 tablespoons freeze-dried chopped shallot
½ teaspoon garlic flakes
¼ cup freeze-dried mushrooms
3 tablespoons dehydrated vegetable flakes
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon crushed salt-free vegetable seasoning
1 teaspoon dried Italian herb blend or herbes de Provence, crushed
To store, combine all the ingredients and place in a covered container or plastic bag.
Makes 2 cups dry mix.
To prepare, combine 1 recipe dry soup mix with 8 cups of water or salt-free chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth in a 4-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 to 1½ hours, or until the beans are tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Remove bay leaf before serving.
187Don’t be fooled by canned soup labels that sound good for you. Remember that manufacturers often try to cleverly label foods to capitalize on consumers’ interest in eating better. Here are a few examples. Campbell’s Home Cookin’ Minestrone certainly sounds as if it should be full of goodness, but hydrolyzed wheat gluten, yeast extract, MSG, and 990 milligrams of sodium aren’t what most people expect in a cup of good, old-fashioned, home-cooked soup. Healthy Choice makes a country vegetable soup that delivers on its lower-sodium claims, but with 430 milligrams per cup it’s still notexactly
low
in sodium. (In addition, it contains unwanted sugar, maltodextrin, and added color.) Campbell’s Healthy Request Minestrone is labeled MSG-free—which it is—but it also contains disodium inosinate and disodium
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