low fat, low sodium recipes

[domestic goddess]

Well, having found out recently that I have dangerously high blood pressure, I've decided to use the DASH diet. I guess this will mean no more packaged, processed foods, so cooking will become a larger part of my life. I'm missing snacks, like cheese and crackers, popcorn, and pretzels. But they just aren't going to work for me, so it's time to boot them to the curb. I've ordered some cookbooks, and more information on the diet, so I'm ready to start. If anyone else is going low fat, low sodium, please feel free to share recipes! Or if you cook for someone who is eating low fat, low sodium and have some recipes that you all love, I'm up for those, too.
I used to cook low fat, low sodium for DH, but it's amazing how you can slip away from it in 8 years, if it is no longer a necessity. Well, I've had my wake-up call, and I'm not waiting for another one.
Thanks for advance for any suggestions you have. I'm also open to book recommendations.
Happy Mother's Day!

[Rosemary]

I've been cooking for an allergy elimination diet for the past 2 weeks - at least 4 more weeks to go. It requires even more scratch cooking than I usually do. We've been eating a ton of fresh produce, both cooked and raw, with all dressings and condiments homemade as well. What I learned is that I should focus on what we CAN eat, rather than what we can't. I've been posting our foods on my blog (http://rosemaryevergreen.blogspot.com) - probably almost everything we've made would be applicable to your diet as well.

[Tiam]

I don't know about the allergy elimination diet, but if you don't use processed foods, it's hard to have too much sodium. What I want is more low sodium canned foods available: Beans, soups, tomatoes and pasta sauces. There aren't many out there.

[puglogic]

D.G., I'm in the same boat as you, and am struggling to re-build my regular meal planning system so the food is both tasty and fits the program.

We've had to cut way back on processed foods so I can control the sodium. I've become really adept at reading labels for the few processed foods we do eat (for the most part that's canned tomatoes - since we didn't can them last year - pasta, and condiments like green salsa)

One of my favorites is spicy tomato soup: Saute a half an onion and a clove of garlic in a tiny amount of olive oil 'til soft, then add a sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes (maybe 1/4 t) and a 28-oz can of no-salt-added fire roasted tomatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes or so, then stir in 1/4c chopped fresh basil (not dried) and cook for no more than a couple of minutes. Whirl the whole thing in a food processor/blender or put it through a mill. I make my own bread (low-sodium of course) and we just have a big bowl of soup, a crisp green salad with lots of veggies, and a big hunk of fresh hot bread ---- heavenly, and "legal" :)

I took some balsamic vinegar and mulled some blackberries and a couple of slices of ginger in it for a couple of weeks to make blackberry-ginger balsamic - really nice to drizzle on fruit or grilled meats/fish.

There are a couple of DASH diet cookbooks out there that we took out of the library. A handful of acceptable things in there.

I find that a splash of balsamic vinegar, a squeeze of lime/lemon juice, good FRESH herbs/spices.....these things can really make a dish good, even without a lot of salt. I'm still unhappy that I can't have Asian food as much as I used to, but every now and then I splurge just to not feel too left out.

[SRP]

I think that once you get used to cooking without the processed foods, you'll find it's pretty easy to eat low sodium and low fat. If you don't already have any, buy yourself a couple of good cookbooks to help you get some ideas, and go from there. It's pretty easy to alter some recipes to meet your needs, especially soups and one-dish meals, which are pretty forgiving. Really explore different herbs and spices. They add great flavor in place of salt.

[reader99]

I don't know about the allergy elimination diet, but if you don't use processed foods, it's hard to have too much sodium. What I want is more low sodium canned foods available: Beans, soups, tomatoes and pasta sauces. There aren't many out there.

Where I mostly see those is Publix, and the health food store. Even then the variety is less than the regular products. I;ve also heard that if you rinse canned foods - say, grean beans - it sharply reduces the sodium.