ANy low-salt-low cal-chicken breast ideas? (turkey breast, chickens, brown sugar, anise)
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This is an easy one. Buy some Walkerswood Jamaican Jerk Spice. It comes in a bottle and looks like ground up twigs. Marinate your chicken in a little of this with the juice of a lime. Yummy and a totally different flavor for chicken!
This sure does not look like low salt!
It looks waaaaaaaaaaaaay too good to BE good for you.
I'm headed to Walmart and then supermarket now--
God I hope they have it--cause I would be in heaven.
Thanks!
Are you looking for a dry rub type of spice blend or the basis for a marinade? And are you seeking more of a traditional BBQ type of seasoning or are you looking for an herbal blend? I find that it's a lot easier to come up with a salt-free marinade than it is to find a salt-free dry rub, though they do exist.
<Obligatory disclaimer> I am not now nor have I ever been an employee of Penzey's Spices. I do, however, claim to be one of their best customers, as we make at least two shopping runs to Penzeys per month and our spice cabinet is bulging with over 140 different varieties of their wares. It is in that capacity that I make the following recommendations.
For a dry rub, you might want to consider Penzey's Arizona Dreaming salt-free blend. It has a bit of mild heat to it, and a traditional BBQ type of flavor palette. You could very likely use it as a basis for a BBQ sauce as well.
Penzey's has a number of salt-free herbal blends that we like a lot. Tuscan Sunset is an Italian-type combination composed of basil, oregano, red bell pepper, garlic, thyme, fennel, black pepper and anise; excellent on vegetables, pork, fish and chicken.
Bavarian Seasoning is more of a Northern European blend, with brown mustard seed, rosemary, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and sage; it's really good on lamb, also on pork, veal and chicken.
Mural of Flavor is an eclectic blend of shallots, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, basil, coriander, lemon peel, citric acid, black pepper, chives, green peppercorns, dill weed, and orange peel; works well on all types of meats, and is a good addition to soups and stews.
And they've got a new one out called Forward that we haven't tried yet but plan to pick up on our next shopping run. It contains black pepper, onion, paprika, garlic, turmeric, rosemary, thyme and basil, and I'd definitely try it on chicken, probably also pork.
If you're leaning more toward a marinade, then it's a lot easier to find a good salt-free mix (unless you are particularly fond of brining meat before you grill it, of course). You can use pretty much any salt-free blend you like, or come up with your own, and carry it in a marinade of whatever suits the meat the best. We had a recipe decades ago called "Snappy Lemon Chicken" that was amazing; just lemon juice, low-salt soy sauce, and Tabasco (sadly, I don't recall the proportions). You can use all manner of vinegars as a marinade base, too: rice wine vinegar imparts a lighter flavor, cider or red wine vinegar has a more complex, fruity flavor, balsamic vinegar can be almost sweet, sherry vinegar has a nice light but complex flavor - lots of variety.
Good luck to you! We're in the label-reading phase, too, and are regularly appalled at what our favorites contain. No wonder we like them so much!
Toast Some Bread and then crumble it up. Get some low salt or no added salt crackers, mash those up and mix them with the bread crumbs in flour
Take the checken breast, dip in soy milk, sprinkle garlic powder and Lemon pepper seasoning (no salt) on the chickens then roll them in the flour/cracker/bread crumb muxture
Place in a shallow pan coated with olive oil and bake on 350 until done OR place on grill at highest level until done, turning as needed. The bread and crackers will be browned but not blackened. The taste of the lemon pepper beats the taste of salt IMO anyday
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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Low salt low fat chicken breasts are an abomination unto the Lord....... but I'll play nicely:
The main thing is how you cook it, not the herbs or marinade. Low fat meats should be either baked at a very low temp for a long time, or cut up and stir fried rapidly.
The low temp bake way: takes nice big breasts of chicken, and bake at about 180F for 2-3 hours. The inside will be pinkish and the juices will run clear ..... it will be safe to eat UNLESS the juices run pink. Doing it this way makes the chicken exquisitely tender and juicy. You can put some salt free seasoning of any kind you like, there are several on the market - but you may choose to do without. Sometimes I like to put slivers of garlic underneath the chicken breasts. Some people use marinades the night before, but those always contain tons of salt.
The stirfry way involves cutting the chicken or turkey breast into small strips. Spray a teflon or cast iron pan with Pam or other cooking spray. Heat until hot and a bit smoky. Throw the strips down on it and gently, constantly stir with your bamboo spatula thingy. Keep the heat on high. Now comes the judgment call, a little bit of skill: when you first put the strips in, they felt floppy as you stirred them. As you continue they will stiffen up. Before they become completely rigid and bouncy you must take the pan off the heater and put the strips into a container, where they will continue to self-cook for a few seconds.
You should NOT stir fry until completely rigid: even a tiny bit of overcooking lean meats of any kind will make them taste dry and tough. It may take little over a minute to fry the strips perfectly, depending on circumstances.
With the stirfry option you can mix in a few herbs in small amounts before cooking, but again that's not actually necessary. You might try a little garlic powder, paprika, or fresh, crushed rosemary leaves for chicken, turkey, or pork ..... onion powder or black pepper for beef round steak cut into strips. Not too much of any seasoning. Caramelized onions (chopped onions fried until they are almost black) are a fine topping for beef, but need to be done separately.
A little on sodium and health: numerous metastudies to this date have shown little correlation between salt intake and hypertension or other health problems. In addition, I've studied the traditional diets of the healthiest, longest-lived nations on the planet such as Japan, Sweden, and Switzerland ...... and all of their diets were quite high in sodium (because before there was refrigeration, foods had to be preserved with methods that usually included adding large amounts of salt).
There shouldn't be any need to reduce sodium intake unless a doctor has told you to.
Lowfat diets are still a matter of controversy, but I don't think there should be any hesitation about eating higher fat foods or frying in "good" oils such as olive. Others would disagree. Personally, I become ravenously hungry if there's not enough fat in my diet. Check out "rabbit starvation" on wikipedia.
Good old homemade oil and vinegar is a good no salt marinade, you can customize it with other herbs and low sodium seasonings. Also brown sugar/molasses and a mild or rice vinegar make a good marinade base, you can add garlic, peppers and seseme for an Asian taste, or add low-sodium tomato sauce/kechup and BBQ seasongs for a BBQ taste. For dry seasongs, FIESTA/BOHLERS (Texas) have a number of low sodium mixes including fajita and brisket that are great on chicken. Happy grilling!
A little on sodium and health: numerous metastudies to this date have shown little correlation between salt intake and hypertension or other health problems. In addition, I've studied the traditional diets of the healthiest, longest-lived nations on the planet such as Japan, Sweden, and Switzerland ...... and all of their diets were quite high in sodium (because before there was refrigeration, foods had to be preserved with methods that usually included adding large amounts of salt).
There shouldn't be any need to reduce sodium intake unless a doctor has told you to.
"Essential hypertension is also greatly influenced by diet and lifestyle. The link between salt and high blood pressure is especially compelling. People living on the northern islands of Japan eat more salt per capita than anyone else in the world and have the highest incidence of essential hypertension. By contrast, people who add no salt to their food show virtually no traces of essential hypertension.
The majority of all people with high blood pressure are "salt sensitive," meaning that anything more than the minimal bodily need for salt is too much for them and increases their blood pressure."
The current recommendation is 1500 mg sodium per day for all of us.
I do not want to hijack the thread, but I do think you are mistaken about salt. We can move the discussion of the issue to Health and Wellness if you like.
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