Pantry & tools
Draft · dietitian review pending
Salt was doing a lot of work in my kitchen. These are the things that took over the job.
Flavour without salt
- My blend: smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder and lemon.
- Single spices I reach for every day: dried onion, garlic powder, dried basil, smoked paprika, cumin.
- Dried shiitake: deep, savoury flavour, and the soaking water replaces broth.
- Finishing oils: roasted garlic olive oil for dressings, and a basil-garlic infused oil as a salt-free stand-in for pesto. Extra virgin olive oil stays the main oil.
Staples
- Proteins: chicken breast, canned salmon and tuna (read the sodium), 0% Greek yogurt.
- Bread, ranked by fibre and sodium: prebiotic multigrain, Vollkornbrot or sprouted grain first. Sourdough is fine, but it isn't whole grain, and it runs about 260 mg sodium a slice.
- Treat: one square of 70% or darker chocolate a day.
Tools
- A kitchen scale and a food logging app. Log in grams.
- A batch-cooking set: BBQ or griddle, sous vide circulator, slow cooker, air fryer.
- A Ninja CREAMi for yogurt-based frozen desserts.
Techniques
- Cook three or more portions at a time. Freeze proteins promptly, on a tray first, then bag them.
- Cook chicken fully to a safe internal temperature (74 °C), even if it will be reheated. To keep it moist, reheat gently and only until it's hot through. Never part-cook chicken to finish later.
- Dry-sear mushrooms before adding oil or liquid.
- Keep acidic marinades to 4 hours or less.
- Rinse canned beans.