Mexican Pork Stew

For some reason last week I came home from the grocery store with a package of country style pork ribs. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but I knew one thing -- it had to be simple. I just wasn't in the mood to fuss. So I turned to my slow cooker. After removing, chunks of excess fat, I threw the ribs into the pot. Then I added one full jar of Trader Joe's NSA Fire Roasted Tomato salsa, turned the cooker on high and busied myself with cleaning house.

A couple of hours later the meat was pretty tender, so I removed the bones. Then I added a can of low sodium pinto beans and a can of white hominy. I had rinsed the beans & hominy well under running water to remove any excess salt. Finally, I chunked up three zucchinis from the farmer's market that I needed to use up. A teaspoon of ground cumin and a handful of chopped cilantro finished the stew. I let everything simmer together for about 30 minutes.

I served it with brown rice and salt free corn tortillas. It made enough for dinner and a couple of lunches. I even froze half for later use. A lot of good food for very little work.

Meatloaf

Meatloaf gest a bad rap sometimes. It can be horribly dry and/or horribly bland. You can imagine the challenge of trying to make a tasty low sodium meatloaf. Impossible? Not quite. But it takes some work.

I actually find meatloaf is a great thing to make. I can get dinners and sandwiches from it for several days. Usually I freeze half of it for future quick meals. One of the Cooking Forum members cooks her meatloaf in a square baking pan. Ever since I saw her pictures, I've been doing the same. The addition of lots of chopped vegetables helps the meatloaf stay moist and makes it pretty tasty.

Here's the recipe I use:

Low Sodium Meatloaf
(Printable Recipe)

1-1/2 to 2 lbs. ground meat (I usually use part beef and part ground pork)
1 8-oz. can NSA tomato sauce (Sometimes I use Trader Joe's no-salt-added marinara sauce or salsa)
1 c. oatmeal
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely grated
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp. Low Sodium Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. ground pepper




Glaze
1/2 c. no-salt-added ketchup
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. horseradish
1 tbsp. prepared mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute vegetables in olive oil. In large bowl, combine meat, tomato sauce, oatmeal, egg, vegetable mixture, Worcestershire Sauce, thyme, and pepper. Mix thoroughly and press into square casserole. Combine glaze ingredients and pour on meatloaf. Bake for about 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Notes: If I use Trader Joe's no-salt-added marinara sauce as the liquid, I'll also use it as the glaze. And I'll use 2 tsp. of Italian herbs instead of just thyme. If I use Trader Joe's no-salt-added salsa, I'll also use it as the glaze. And I'll add some chopped fresh cilantro to the meatloaf mix and substitute 1/2 tsp. cumin and 1 tsp. chili powder for the thyme.

Lentil Chili

For a few weeks I thought the weather had done its usual Sacramento area thing -- three days of spring, then full blast of hot summer. But we got a welcome reprieve. The last two weeks have been cool again. In fact, it was raining Saturday when I went to our local farmer's market.

On one particularly cold day I wanted to make some chili. I checked my pantry and discovered that I didn't have any beans at all. But I did have lentils. I've read a lot of lentil chili recipes and perfunctorily dismissed them. For some reason they just didn't appeal to me. But here I was, wanting chili, too lazy to go out to the store, and holding a bag of lentils. So I decided to give it a try.

Lentil Chili
(Printable Recipe)

Here's what I did: After rinsing the lentils, I put them in a soup pot, covered them with about 1-2 inches of water and cooked them for just about 20 minutes. I didn't want them to turn to mush.

In a separate pan, I sauteed one small chopped onion, a small chopped bell pepper, and a couple of cloves of minced garlic along with about 2 tablespoons of chili powder and 2 teaspoons of powdered cumin. I use any chili powder mix that is salt free, sometimes Penzey's & sometimes Grandma's.

Once the vegetables were tender, I put them in the lentil pot. Then I added one 8 oz. can of NSA tomato sauce and 1 small can of drained and rinsed diced green chilies. I let all this simmer for about 30 minutes.

When I finally tasted my concoction, I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted pretty good and was a perfect cool weather dinner.

Lentils cook quickly and require no soaking. One reason why they're great to have around for fairly fast bean-type dinners and/or salads.

Thank you, In-N-Out!

Eating out when you're on a low sodium diet is a real challenge. Finer restaurants are usually OK because you can order steaks without any additional salt or seasoning. But fast food restaurants are problems. Yet every once in a while, a burger with fries just sounds so very good. That's why I appreciate In-N-Out so much. The restaurants are geared up to meet most customer requests -- no buns, grilled onions, double cooked french fries -- you name it. And, of course, no salt.

In-N-Out burger stands are found in California, Nevada, Arizona, & Utah. They have a very simple menu -- burgers, cheeseburgers, fries, sodas, & shakes. They serve up a traditionally classic burger with just meat, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, & special sauce, all on a bun. Luckily for me there's an In-N-Out near my favorite grocery store. So whenever I shop there (about once a week), I stop to get lunch. A few times the cashier has told me that I'm the second or third customer asking for no salt that day. It's an option on their electronic cash register and is printed on my receipt.

I order two cheeseburgers with no salt on the meat and one french fries (to share) with no salt. As I'm waiting for my order, I watch the french fry station. I can always tell when it's my order because my fries are packaged up & set aside before the salt is applied. If I want to be super-duper low salt, I order the cheeseburgers with no sauce. It's a fun, change of pace lunch for us.

Two Great Online Resources: Low Sodium Cooking & MegaHeart

Low Sodium Cooking is a wonderful web site with a plethora of useful information. It has lots of recipes, and a list of shopping sources.

Another very good site is MegaHeart. It also has recipes, lots of helpful information, and a newsletter.

Both websites provide  great starting points for someone just beginning a low sodium diet.

Rhubarb Crisp

I finally got around to using the wonderful rhubarb I picked up at the farmer's market last Sunday. I usually just make rhubarb sauce, but I wanted to try something different, something more like a real dessert.

I love rhubarb and love its sour taste. I've had rhubarb pie that was so disgustingly sweet I couldn't figure out why the cook even bothered using rhubarb. I've also had rhubarb pie that was pasty with too much flour thickener. And don't even get me started on the ubiquitous strawberry-rhubarb combination. I thoroughly dislike it.

Anyhow, one of the Cooking Forum members posted a recipe for rhubarb crisp, and I decided to try it. I was pretty sure I'd like the crisp but was worried about my husband. He's always expressed his dislike of rhubarb anything. But even he enjoyed this. So my first endeavor making a rhubarb dessert was a success.

Rhubarb Crisp
(Printable Recipe)

1 pound fresh rhubarb, cut into 3/4-inch pieces, about 4 cups
3/4 cup sugar
1¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I omitted)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup old-fashion rolled oats
½ cup unsalted butter, melted but not hot

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine rhubarb with sugar, ¼ cup flour, and cinnamon and transfer into four 4-inch individual baking dishes. (I put it all in a 9 x 12 baking dish, covered it, and baked it by itself for about 20 minutes so the rhubarb would get a head start on cooking.)
In a bowl, combine remaining 1 cup of flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, and butter, mixing well. Sprinkle over the rhubarb mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until topping is golden brown and rhubarb is tender.

Orzo Salad, Squash Fritters, & Yogurt Bread!

My favorite pasta salad, my favorite squash dish, and some yummy bread... What could be better? Tonight I made a great vegetarian meal, and I wasn't even trying to "do" vegetarian. First off, a couple of days ago, my husband came home with some summer squash -- 2 green zucchinis and 2 yellow crooknecks. Then earlier this week I discovered a box of orzo in my pantry. And since my successful try with Sour Cream Bread, I've been toying with the idea of making a yogurt bread. Put it all together, and it spelled dinner tonight.

First the bread: I found a recipe on Allrecipes for Yogurt Yeast Rolls that used 1-1/2 cups of plain, unflavored yogurt. I figured I could just shape the dough into a loaf rather than rolls. I pretty much followed the recipe except I cut the salt in half. Because salt inhibits yeast activity, I also cut the yeast in half. I let my food processor do the mixing & kneading for me. The recipe made two free-form loaves, and the bread has a nice taste & tender crumb.

While the bread was rising, I started on an orzo salad. Orzo is my absolute favorite pasta shape; I've loved it as long as I can remember. A few years ago I discovered a delicious pasta salad using orzo, and I've been making it ever since. The original recipe comes from Epicurious, but I've adjusted it to lessen the sodium content. The combination of  tomatoes, basil, feta cheese, and toasted pine nuts is unbeatable. Here's the recipe with my notes:

Orzo Salad
From Epicurious
(Printable Recipe)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
(I add 1 clove crushed garlic)

6 cups chicken broth (I don't use the chicken broth)
1 pound orzo

2 cups red and yellow teardrop or grape tomatoes, halved
1 7-ounce package feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, about 1 1/2 cups (I only use about 2-3 oz. feta)
1 cup chopped fresh basil (I thinly slice the basil)
1 cup chopped green onions (I thinly slice the onions)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, and honey in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season vinaigrette with salt (I do not add any salt) and pepper. (Cover and chill.)

Bring broth (or unsalted water) to boil in large heavy saucepan. Stir in orzo, reduce heat to medium, cover partially, and boil until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to large wide bowl, tossing frequently until cool.

Mix tomatoes, feta, basil, and green onions into orzo. Add vinaigrette; toss to coat. Season with salt (I do not add any salt) and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Add pine nuts; toss. Serve at room temperature.

And finally, my absolute favorite way to fix summer squash -- Squash Patties. I love all summer squashes and have grown & purchased my share of them. I cook them all kinds of ways too, but squash patties is my all time favorite. I eat them hot & freshly fried, lukewarm, and even cold, straight from the fridge. Leftover patties don't last long because I'm always snitching them. Here's the recipe with my notes:

Summer Squash Fritters
(Printable Recipe)

2 cups grated raw summer squash
½ cup biscuit mix (I use Hodgson Mill Insta-Bake or my own homemade version)
1 egg, beaten
½ cup grated cheese (I use 1/4 cup grated naturally low sodium Swiss)
Minced onion to taste (I chop about 1/4 cup of whatever fresh onion I have on hand)
Salt and pepper to taste (I omit salt)
(I add about ¼ - ½ tsp. dill weed)

Mix all together in a bowl. Spoon into shallow, hot oil in a frying pan. Fry until golden on first side, turn, cook until golden on second side. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

Lundberg Black Japonica Rice

I love this stuff! I first tasted red rice at a local bistro. It was served with a delicious Thai seafood curry. The curry was fabulous, but the rice really intrigued me. So I asked our waiter about it. He, in turn, asked the chef. I was told that it was an Asian red rice available in local grocery stores. Well, I looked and could not find red rice. But... I did find Lundberg Black Japonica Rice, a blend of black and mahogany rice. Not exactly the same, but close enough. So I decided to give it a try. It was great! It's a "...whole grain brown rice blend of short grain black rice and medium grain mahogany rice... ." So much better than the short grain brown rice we've been eating for over 30 years. It's chewy with a nutty flavor that doesn't need salt. The grains stay separate, and it doesn't get mushy at all.

I've been using it regularly now. My husband makes it in our rice cooker. One of the things I really like about this rice is that I can reheat the leftovers without losing any texture. I can add some water & flavorings or broth, cook it until the liquid evaporates, and still have wonderfully chewy & tasty whole grain rice. No mush!

I've been able to get this rice at my local grocery store and a local natural foods store. Lundberg Farms is headquartered in California, so their products are readily available in my area.

Sour Cream Bread

Yes, it tastes as good as it sounds. I first read this recipe on Ohiomom's blog Cooking in Cleveland. The bread sounded so good. How could it not taste great? I mean, it has two cups of sour cream in it! Yum! And finally, last night, I made it. It's a wonderfully tender & moist bread. Here's the recipe:

Sour Cream Bread

Adapted from James Beard

(Printable Recipe)

1 pkg. yeast
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups sour cream, room temperature
1 Tbsp. salt (I used only 1 tsp.)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 cups bread flour
4 tsp. vital wheat gluten

Combine yeast, sugar and water and proof for 5 minutes. Blend sour cream with salt and baking soda and add to yeast mixture. Combine flour and wheat gluten and add, one cup at a time, to mixture. Turn out on floured board and knead for 10 minutes.

Place in a buttered bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place till double in bulk, 1-1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down, turn onto a lightly floured board and knead for about 2 minutes. Form into two smaller loaves or one large free form loaf. Smaller loaves may be placed in loaf pans. Cover and let rise in warm place for an additional hour or until double in bulk.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mist dough lightly with water, cut 1/2 inch deep slashes on top and bake for 30-35 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped on top and bottom.

*My notes: I used 2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour & 2 cups all purpose flour. I also mixed everything up in my food processor. After mixing all the ingredients into a rough, shaggy dough in the FP, I let it rest (autolyse) for 20 minutes before finishing the kneading in the processor.

Healthy Heart Market -- A Good Low Sodium Resource

I'm fortunate to be living in the greater Sacramento area of California. We've got some wonderful local grocery stores, great farmer's markets, several Trader Joe's & Cost Plus World Markets, Costco & Sam's Club, ethnic grocery stores, Whole Foods, lots of natural foods stores, and a thriving agricultural enclave in the Sierra Foothills near where I live. So I've got lots of places to pick up all kinds of tasty food products. But... finding low sodium products is still a challenge. Sure Trader Joe's has introduced some low sodium/no-salt-added products this year. And Safeway sells low sodium bacon and a sliced Alpine Lace look alike. But beyond the no-salt-added tomato products every grocery store now carries, it's hard finding low sodium prepared foods. And even though your local store may carry certain low sodium products for a while, there's no guarantee that it will continue carrying them.

Deli cases -- Forget about it! Frozen foods -- No way! Canned foods -- Nope!

That's why a resource like Healthy Heart Market is so useful. It's got a great selection of low sodium products that might be difficult to find in local grocery stores. I regularly order China Town soy sauce. It's got the lowest sodium I've found so far. I also order the Hain Featherweight low sodium baking powder. Not to mention their NSA dill and bread & butter pickles. I usually get a couple of jars of mustard too.

One of my Cooking Forum pals told me that she regularly orders the Frog Ranch Medium Salsa, Toasted Onion Dip Mix, Lum Taylor's Barbecue Sauce, Francesco Rinaldi Pasta Sauce, Diana's Black Bean w/ Sweet Corn Salsa, and Farmer Boy Restaurant Greek Dressing from Healthy Heart.

They have a great variety of products to choose from and the customer service is excellent.

Braised Ox Tails

My mom used to make ox tails regularly. I remember really liking them because the meat was so tender. For some reason, I'd been thinking about them again lately. Some members of the Cooking Forum had made them & posted delicious looking pictures. Then my daughter saw someone making them on the Food Network. So when we found some meaty ones at our local grocery store, we both got a package.

I did my usual braising thing -- no recipe at all, just what I feel like at the moment. I use recipes for baking, but for main dishes, I normally just "wing" it. If I use a recipe at all, it's mainly as a guideline. I hardly ever measure ingredients. I just throw things together, taste as I go along, and hope for the best. That's how my mother cooked and her mother before her. And that's what I did with the ox tails.

I browned them well in a little bit of oil after cutting off extra chunks of fat. I removed some excess oil and then added one chopped up small onion. After the onion had browned a bit with the meat, I added four cloves of crushed garlic. A few seconds later, I added two blobs of tomato paste. (I freeze 2 tablespoon-size blobs of no salt tomato paste individually on a cookie sheet & when frozen, store them in a freezer bag.) I covered the ox tails with beef broth made from Minor's Beef Stock Base, added two bay leaves, and squirted in some Angostura Worcestershire Sauce. I threw in a couple of chopped grocery store fresh tomatoes that had gotten pretty soft. After braising for an hour, I added the juice of half a lemon to brighten the flavors.

I served the ox tails & sauce with Lemon Pepper Pappardelle from Trader Joe's. I thought the added flavor to the noodles would make them more interesting than just regular pasta. I was right. My husband loved the ox tails. He likes chewing on gristle & bone, so they were an enjoyable treat for him. And there was enough sauce & pappardelle left over to go with some simple sauteed pork chops I made the next night.

Maple Oatmeal Bread

Yesterday I made a recipe of Maple Oatmeal Bread posted by Annie on the Cooking Forum. It appealed to me because it looked easy and I could do it all in my food processor. The bread turned out wonderfully light & tasty! It's a perfect breakfast toast bread and couldn't be easier, especially with using the food processor. Here's the recipe:

MAPLE OATMEAL BREAD

(Printable Recipe)

3 – 3 ¼ cups flour (I used 2 cups all purpose flour & 1 cup white whole wheat flour)

1 pkg dry yeast (2-1/4 tsp.)
¾ cup prepared coffee
1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats (I used rolled/old fashioned oats)
1/2 cup maple syrup (I used pure maple syrup)

2 tblsp. butter

1 tsp salt (I omitted)

1 egg

Combine a cup of flour and the yeast.    Heat coffee, oats, syrup, butter and salt until just warm and butter is almost melted.  Add to flour mixture along with egg. Beat with electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes kneading). Shape dough into a ball, place in lightly greased bowl, and turn over once to grease surface of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about an hour,

Punch down dough, cover and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile lightly grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Shape dough into a loaf and place into prepared pan, cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (30 to 45 minutes). Bake at 350 F about 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack. Makes 1 loaf (14 slices).

Food Processor Method: Combine flour, yeast, & oatmeal in food processor bowl. Process just long enough to combine. Combine cooled coffee, maple syrup, beaten egg, & softened butter in large measuring cup. Dribble liquid into dry mixture while processor is running. Process until it forms a rough ball of dough. Let rest 20 minutes to absorb & distribute liquid evenly (autolyse). After 20 minute rest, process another 20 seconds or turns. Let rise, punch down, shape, & bake as above.

Broccoli Salad

I recently discovered a store brand bacon, Raleys/Bel Air Fine Meats Lower Sodium Premium Sliced Bacon. One strip has 130 mg. sodium, supposedly 33% less sodium than regular bacon. I used this bacon last week making a broccoli salad. I can get even  lower sodium bacon at Safeway, but I don't shop there as often. So finding it at my favorite store was pretty exciting for me. Bacon adds such a special flavor to so many dishes, but is prohibitively high in sodium. I've found by using the lower sodium bacon & using less than I would normally, I can make great tasting and still acceptable dishes.

Broccoli Salad
(Printable Recipe)

2 bunches fresh broccoli
4 slices low sodium bacon, cooked & crumbled (Most recipes call for 10 slices regular bacon)
1/2 cup raisins, golden or dark
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup unsalted & roasted sunflower seeds, or other nut/seed
1 cup mayonnaise (Homemade or store bought. You could also use half mayo & half sour cream)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Wash & cut broccoli into bite-size pieces. (Optional: Steam them for 2 minutes over boiling water. Rinse thoroughly in cold water and drain well.) Combine broccoli, bacon, raisins, onion, & sunflower seeds in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix sugar & vinegar. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved, and then mix in mayonnaise. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving, tossing occasionally.