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Today we are focusing on how to boost the flavor in food without adding salt.
Sodium is an essential mineral that our body needs.
It helps control blood pressure and to maintain a normal fluid balance.
Many people are not aware that most foods contain natural sodium.
As a result there is no need to add salt to boost the flavor.
There are healthy alternatives.
Eating too much sodium may cause high blood pressure, which increases the risk of getting
a stroke, heart disease and kidney disease.
So, how much sodium is in a pinch of salt?
On average a pinch is about 1/8 of a teaspoon which contains about 300 mg of sodium.
According to the Canadian Hyper tension Education program, consider reducing your sodium intake
towards 2,000 mg per day to decrease blood pressure.
If you add a small amount of salt to your meals, taste your food first.
An important point to remember is that while there are different types of salt which vary
in flavour, coarseness and even colour, they all contain the same amount of sodium.
Over 75 percent of the sodium we eat comes from processed foods, restaurant meals, fast
foods and packaged and ready to eat meals.
They include deli meats, pizza sauces, cheese and soups.
Even, breads, breakfast cereals and bakery products contain sodium even though they may
not taste salty.
Not to worry, there are lots of lower sodium alternatives to add to your favourite everyday
foods.
We are going to feature some recipes and tips that will help enhance flavor without the
use of salt.
That way you can enjoy some delicious food the salt free way!
Well today we’ll be making a minestrone soup.
I’m going to be showing you how to make a minestrone soup that’s so easy wholesome,
healthy, no salt, let’s get started!
So going to start off with sautéing Spanish onion, so olive oil is a great addition it’s
sodium free and it gives your food a great boost of flavour.
And now we’re just going to add all the ingredients pretty much at one time.
Okay, so the first thing I’m going to pour in the broth.
I’m going to water it down a little bit, fresh tomatoes, look how easy it is.
You can do this at home yourself!
So this is great, you want colour, you’re using lots of colour here and remember when
you’re having vegetables not to shy away from frozen vegetables.
Right because there’s no sodium in frozen vegetables for the most part.
And some greek oregano, and my veggie rub to add some added flavour.
So David it’s great you use an abundance amount of herbs and spices as opposed to salt
to flavour our foods.
With these added seasonings, that I’ve used beautiful herbs, thyme black pepper, dehydrated
garlic it just really brings out the flavour you don’t need any salt.
And then the oregano to just top it off.
Once I’ve done that I’m going to get it all into the soup.
I’m going to add beautiful fresh garlic that I’ve chopped up.
I’ve used 3 cloves, depending on one’s palette.
Some people like it garlicy- especially the Italians.
So put it in there, and stir it in, in terms of getting all these flavours, into this beautiful
wholesome soup, we need to bring it to a boil and let it simmer for an hour, hour and a
half.
This is a great example we’re always encouraging people to have colour on their plate, this
is a one pot meal with tons of colour.
Absolutely, to top it off, to add to that wholesomeness you can use some whole wheat
seashells.
Bring it to a boil, and I would only right at the end just before serving.
So many people serve their soup with a piece of bread on the size.
So what’s important is compare your labels and make a lower sodium choice when choosing
your bread.
Alternatively, we’re using pasta here.
These are beautiful sea shells, I’m just going to add it right at the end.
And pasta has no sodium, so this is a great way to make it more substantial without sodium.
Yeah this makes it really wholesome.
Make a bowl for both of us.
That smells delicious.
But as you can see it’s not that watery either.
You can smell those herbs coming through.
It’s definitely a one pot meal, its heart healthy.
There we are, enjoy everybody!