How can a plan a dinner to include one guest's low/no salt diet?

One guest (of four) needs low/no salt. Do you have ideas about menus that could involve as little salt as possible, without sacrificing flavor? Or what kinds of recipes can be adapted? It's a celebration, so I'd want it to be special.

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6 Comments

Sam1148 August 24, 2011
drbabs says: Sodium girl has a blog. Here's a link to it:

Ahh..thats is the goto person for this stuff.
 
drbabs August 24, 2011
Sodium girl has a blog. Here's a link to it:
http://sodiumgirl.wordpress.com/
 
Sam1148 August 24, 2011
There's one 52'er here that specializes in low sodium dishes. I forget her name "lowsodiumgirl" perhaps? Maybe she'll see the thread and comment. I like the fish en papillote suggestion...with some lime and such it would be flavorful.


 
wssmom August 24, 2011
A good deal of the salt in our diets comes from processed and packaged foods. Syronai's suggestion to utilize fresh produce and top-quality meat (or seafood) is a good way to avoid excess salt.
 
beyondcelery August 24, 2011
Making separate portions with no or low salt is a good idea. I'd also probably try to concentrate on ingredients that don't need a lot of salt to taste good. This means very fresh produce, probably from a farmer's market or as close to that as you can get. The better your produce, the less you'll need salt to make it taste good. Grains such as rice and quinoa don't really need a lot of salt--a little olive oil, lemon juice, some chopped green onions, and just a dash of salt and pepper will make any grain good. Concentrate on herbs for your vegetables. You can roast carrots with olive oil, maple syrup, pepper, ground allspice, chopped fresh thyme, and a dash of salt and they're delicious.

Consider a good-quality piece of meat as well. Maybe steak or pork chops. Those often don't want a lot of salt because you want to allow the true flavors to sing. Put a few salt shakers on the table for the guests who want more salt on their food and you'll probably be able to make everyone happy.
 
the P. August 24, 2011
What about doing one of the fish en papillote recipes (see question a few below this one), which are wrapped individually? That way, you could leave one without salt but still properly season the others. Perhaps do a vegetable saute as a side and remove a portion to cook separately without salt. That's what I'd do...
 
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