Get the Salt Out (40 page)

251
Use brown rice instead of white rice in your cooking.
Brown rice is higher in minerals and has a chewy texture and delightful, almost nutty flavor that beats the blandness of white rice hands down. When my clients try brown rice, they find they simply don’t have to butter and salt it, as they do white rice. To make brown rice, add 2 cups of salt-free vegetable, chicken, or beef stock and 1 cup of brown rice in a saucepan, heat it to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for 40 to 50 minutes (usually 40 minutes for short-grain and 50 minutes for long-grain). If you like, add some herb blends or a pinch of saffron to the cooking water for extra flavor.
Serves 4 to 6. One Salt Shaker.

252
For a variation,
make the same recipe using a combination of one cup of water combined with one cup of low-sodium tomato juice.
One Salt Shaker.

253
If you live life in the fast lane,
buy quick-cooking plain brown rice. Make it using a flavorful broth and season it to taste with herb and vegetable combinations or a teaspoon or two of reduced-sodium tamari (see tip 63) for a saltier flavor.
One to Two Salt Shakers.

254
Avoid living life in the salty lane:
stay away from instant flavored rice mixes like Rice-A-Roni. Half a cup of herb-and-butter-flavored Rice-A-Roni contains 790 milligrams
of sodium and half a cup of its Spanish rice mix contains a whopping 1,090 milligrams.
One to Two Salt Shakers.

255
Combine brown rice with higher-sodium vegetables like spinach
to give the rice more of a salty flavor. That’s precisely what nutritionist Melissa Diane Smith does in the flavorful recipe that follows.
One Salt Shaker.

Combine the brown rice in the broth in a medium pan and cook as directed in tip 251.

In a large saucepan or skillet, heat olive oil and sauté the diced onion for a few minutes until translucent. Then add the chopped spinach leaves and sauté just until wilted, about 1 minute. Add the spinach-onion mixture to the cooked brown rice along with the amount of lemon juice you desire and stir well.
Serves 4.

256
To make the above recipe slightly richer,
soak and drain one ounce of Greek feta cheese (as described in tip 197) and crumble it into the dish just before serving.
One Salt Shaker.

257
Try other grains such as barley, buckwheat, brown basmati rice, or wild rice in side dishes.
When you get the salt
out, it’s important to start putting other new flavors in. Whole grains add interesting variety to the diet, and if you prepare them without salt, you can rest assured that they’re low in sodium but packed with other minerals we need.
One Salt Shaker.

258
If you soak and cook dried beans from scratch,
never add salt to the beans’ soaking water. Don’t add salt during cooking, either, until beans are tender: salt added beforehand toughens beans and prevents water absorption.

259
Add partially cooked beans to unsalted soups, casseroles, and sauces.
Beans must be thoroughly cooked before you salt them or combine them with salt-containing ingredients.