Lower Sodium in Your Holiday Meals

Watching out for extra fat and calories may have already become a holiday tradition for you and your family, but what's often ignored is the sodium content of holiday food - in everything from Mom's mashed potatoes to that traditional fruitcake.

Although most people don't have a problem with too much salt intake once in a while, it can be a concern if you have high blood pressure, certain heart problems or kidney disease. If you have one of these conditions, you may have to limit the amount of sodium in your diet.

Try our simple ideas to lower the sodium - and keep the flavor- in your holiday fare:

Holiday treats. Recipes for sugar cookies, fruitcake or gingerbread cookies may call for salt and butter. Omit the salt completely and use unsalted butter. Pies and pastries have sodium mainly in their crust. Leave the salt out. You won't miss it.

Holiday breads. Breads like challah or St. Basil's cake need salt for leavening. You can use half the amount called for if you slightly reduce the amount of yeast. Your breads will have the same light texture and still taste great.

Kosher meats. To reduce the salt in kosher meat, place the raw meat in a large pot with cold water and bring the pot to a boil. When you drain the water, some of the salt is drained away with it. You can then cook the meat according to your recipe.

Ham. Holiday dishes such as black-eyed peas with ham, collard greens or Hoppin' John use ham hocks, which are high in sodium. Omit both the ham and the salt from the recipe. Instead, use a small amount of crumbled, broiled bacon to top each serving. You'll have the traditional flavor but much less sodium.

Vegetables. Use fresh or frozen vegetables rather than canned. Canned vegetables are a significant source of sodium. For example, 1/2 cup of canned green beans that have been cooked and drained contain about 300 mg of sodium, whereas 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen green beans have only 2 to 3 mg of sodium.

Potatoes. Instead of using salt, season your potatoes or latkes with chopped parsley, onion, garlic or chives, small pieces of steamed broccoli or stewed tomatoes, or a sprinkling of grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese.

Seasonings. Use sodium-free spices and herbs - basil, cilantro, parsley, curry, rosemary or a sodium-free spice blend - add flavor to your recipes. Be careful not to use seasoning salts, such as garlic salt, which are high in sodium.

Posted: December 2004