Spice Up Your Valentine’s Day Dinner
Savory ways to reduce salt in your family’s diet
Salt has its place in the kitchen as a flavor enhancer, but herbs and spices are a creative cook’s secret weapon for boosting flavor without adding a big dose of sodium. Here are seven tricks for inspired cooking with herbs and spices that will help you shake the salt habit. Then try our Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken recipe for the big night.
- Crumble dried rosemary, thyme or oregano and sprinkle on meat for roasting, baking or grilling.
- Give baked fish, tuna salad and beet salads some tang with a bit of chopped fresh dill.
- Garlic makes almost any dish better. Its earthiness adds depth so you can get away with less or even no salt. Sauté garlic with winter greens, add minced garlic dips and sauces, or roast a whole head and squeeze out the caramelized cloves over mashed potatoes.
- Swap black, red, green or white pepper for salt when seasoning eggs, pasta and soups.
- Dry mustard powder is deliciously pungent; it’s perfect for flavoring barbecue sauce, jazzing up lean ground meats and fish, and flavoring roasted ham.
- As a natural match for winter squash, apples, pears, white beans and sausage, sage is the ultimate go-to winter herb. Like garlic, its earthiness calls for less or no salt.
- Fresh ginger adds a kick to Chinese foods; try steaming white fish over a bed of sliced fresh ginger, scallions and toasted sesame oil.
Other Valentine's Day Articles:
