Seasoning blends

I thought spice blends were my answer to cooking without salt. Garlic pepper, steak spice, "all-purpose" seasoning. Shake it on, lots of flavour, no salt shaker in sight.

Then I read the back of one. A garlic-pepper blend runs 360 mg of sodium in 5 ml, one small spoonful. That's not a spice. That's salt wearing a spice costume.

Not every blend is like that, which is exactly why I read them now. Every blend gets its label checked before it goes in the cart. Most days I skip them and use single spices instead. My daily drivers: dried onion, garlic powder, dried basil, smoked paprika and cumin.

When I want a go-to mix, I make my own: smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder and lemon. It goes on chicken, on vegetables, on nearly everything.

It costs less than the store blend, and I know there's nothing hiding in it.