Low Sodium Cooking Continued...

(Continued from February 17, 2010 post)

Dinner #2:

I made this dinner for my parents when they came to visit me. I have an ongoing mission to convert my father to a heart-friendly diet, since he has some cardiac and kidney risk factors. He's a good man and I want him to live forever.   

"Fake Southern Comfort Food Dinner"

Oven Fried Chicken:

Mix plain yogurt and minced garlic in one bowl. Mix plain bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, pepper, dried basil, and dried oregano. Dip a boneless skinless chicken breast in the yogurt mix, then the dry mix. Spray top of chicken with Pam. Bake at 400 for 55-60 min. 

**Notes: 1)This was awesome. Really really good. 2) I have absolutely no idea how long it actually cooked. I forgot to set a timer. I know it went more than 30 minutes. My super-scientific way to tell: wonder what smells like burning... look in the oven... see that it's the breadcrumbs that fell off the chicken onto the baking pan... use a meat thermometer to verify that chicken's above 180 degrees. Done. 240 mg sodium.

Green Beans: Simmer a bunch of fresh green beans, half a red onion (chopped) and a bunch of garlic in enough water to cover. Keep it covered and bubbling lightly for about 20 minutes. Then simmer uncovered until the water evaporates (according to Mom's recipe) or until you are impatient and you dump out the rest of the water (what I actually did.) 

***Notes:These would be a more generally appealing with some salt, but if you appreciate the taste of fresh green beans on their own merit (I do) then they are good. Just don't compare them to Gran's "cooked on the stove for hours with butter and tons of salt" Green Beans, which are infinitely superior.

Cheddar Biscuits: Mix 1 c. flour with 1/2 T baking powder. Cut in 2 T unsalted butter. Mix in 1/3 c. milk and 1/4 c. grated lo-fat cheddar. Roll into a ball and flatten onto greased baking pan. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Melt 2 T unsalted butter in a tiny pan (or bowl) and mix with garlic powder and parsley flakes. Pour over the top of biscuits when they come out of the oven. 

***Notes: These are modeled after the Red Lobster biscuits. Those are better. In fact, they are in a class of their own, called "Best Tasting Stuff On Earth That Will Probably Kill You." However, these are very very tasty, and not in the "will kill you" group. Technically, these have 14 mg sodium if you eat 1/5 of the recipe. I dare you to only eat 1/5 of that recipe. Also, the recipe calls for "Sodium Free Baking Powder" and "Low Sodium Cheddar," neither of which are available in Waco. So take the sodium count up a bit. But still probably won't kill you.  

(Note about these low sodium ingredients: Many companies are jumping on the low sodium bandwagon. I applaud them in this! We should all go out and buy unsalted tortilla chips to celebrate. However, watch these products carefully. Many, including the two ingredients named above, use the salt-substitute potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride. This means that while the sodium content is lower, the potassium content is higher. This is a BAD idea if you are a renal patient, since potassium will kill you dead. If you struggle with high potassium levels, as does my very own Granby who has been hospitalized on several occasions with "medically unlikely" levels of potassium, steer clear of any and all salt substitutes.)

Ok, that's what I have today. I'll keep trying recipes and tell you when I find the good stuff. So far we are 5 and 1 with the Heart Assoc. book( lentil soup was not a winner), and 1 and 0 in the 500 Recipes book, so not bad.