Easy and low sodium?

[sky]

Hello all, happy Easter to those who celebrate it :)

Does anyone have suggestions for relatively easy/quick recipes that are low sodium? I've gotten really conscious about how much preprocessed convenience type food I eat lately, but the trouble is I barely know the first thing about cooking. As far as dietary restrictions, I'm allergic to peanuts but otherwise I'm up for trying absolutely anything :)

Comments

We call this "chicken with twigs"

[redbird]

This one is quick to prep, but you'll need an hour for it to cook.

Chicken parts (we use six chicken thighs, but the original recipe called for a whole chicken, cut up, and I've done it with drumsticks)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus enough to coat a baking dish
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 or 2 limes, cut into wedges
Black pepper to taste (try a quarter teaspoon, you can add more when you serve it)

Preheat oven to 375F (180C if you're in the metric part of the world)
Put the chicken pieces in an oiled baking dish
Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, and thyme
Pour the liquid over the chicken

Bake for 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer says it's done (my oven runs a little slow, so about 50 minutes)
Serve the chicken, with the lime pieces alongside. Squeeze lime juice onto your chicken before eating.

If you're trying for low fat as well as low salt, use skinless chicken pieces or just don't eat the skin.

There's nothing sacred about thyme, if you prefer some other reasonably strong herb.

The sauce you bake it in is edible, but not exciting, over rice.

Re: We call this "chicken with twigs"

[serene]

What's the twigs part?

Re: We call this "chicken with twigs"

[redbird]

cattitude thinks the pieces of thyme are somewhat twig-like.

Re: We call this "chicken with twigs"

[serene]

Ah, gotcha. I dislike the taste of thyme, so I didn't actually know it came as twig-like things.

Re: We call this "chicken with twigs"

[redbird]

Addendum: If you don't have or don't like thyme, try some other herb. I don't quite think tarragon would work here, even though it often goes well with chicken--maybe rosemary or basil.

[serene]

My best advice is to take recipes that have few processed ingredients and then cut the added salt in half at first, then if you like the recipe, make it again with even less salt. At the same time, increase the other spices/herbs. It's much easier to do this to your own taste than to start out looking for low-sodium fare, in my opinion.

[rydra_wong]

AFAIK, if you're cooking from scratch, low-sodium cooking is just about not adding extra salt, and checking any processed ingredients you do use (e.g. stock cubes, canned vegetables, etc.) for added levels.

Some possibly-useful links on things to watch for:

http://www.abbottnorthwestern.com/ac/hearthealth.nsf/page/sodium
http://diabetes.webmd.com/diabetes-understanding-salt

If you're very new to cooking, I'd suggest mastering some very-quick-and-easy recipes that you can make (with infinite variations) when you'd normally eat a convenience meal -- e.g.:

basic omelette or scrambled eggs with vegetables
simple cooked fish and salad
stir-fry (almost anything can go in a stir-fry!)
pasta with various simple sauces

All of these can work fine without any salt at all (e.g. my not-technically-poached salmon).