Love Your Heart Recipe Rally

I had a dream.

I know. I’m one national holiday too late. But still, I had a dream.

And no, it wasn’t the one where I was flying over buildings or showing up late to school without my pants. Or flying pant-less over buildings to make it to school on time. That would be absurd.

This was a real life dream and something that could impact more than just me and my personal well-being. This was something that had the potential to change people’s approach to food. To health. To life. This was a dream about making bagels, pizza, and bacon wrapped scallops, without the salt. And then encouraging other people to do it too.

Then I woke up, and two weeks ago, I sent out a challenge, a few tweets, and a handful of emails, asking a group of bloggers to do just that – cook a single recipe with little to no sodium.

I asked them to do this because, during this month of February, we are currently celebrating Heart Health month, Valentine’s Day, and the release of the USDA’s new food regulations (which now say that 50% of Americans need to eat 1,500mg of sodium or less a day – about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt).

With all of that going on, I thought we needed to have a cyber party. With lots of food and maybe some festive hats.

And fifteen people responded – enthusiastically – even though none of them have dietary restrictions.

And trust me, none of them took the challenge lightly. To stick to the low so guidelines, they could have simply baked chicken without any salt or blended tomatoes together and called it soup. But instead, because they are all culinary rockstars, they picked recipes that were highly dependent on soy sauce, cheeses, broths, and breads. All ingredients that are high in sodium.

They asked questions; they shared their discoveries (really? there’s sodium in milk!); they began to notice how high sodium is in both packaged and natural ingredients; they found great solutions by thinking beyond the Morton’s box; they withstood ridicule from their wives (sorry Oui, Chef!); they made multiple attempts until things tasted just right; and I think it is fair to say that they even surprised themselves with the salt-free results. I know I’m beyond impressed.

In the end, they created sixteen incredible low sodium dishes for you, me, and America to enjoy.

But beyond the gusto and total generosity they gave to this project, they also proved that, as food-loving, salt-enjoying eaters, low sodium, making satisfying versions of their favorite foods was not only possible, but exciting.

And while I could talk about these bloggers until the end of the day, I think it is time that you leave this page and check out their masterful work. So, without much further ado, let me present to you the first ever Love Your Heart Recipe Rally. There is plenty of good reading and eating to last you through the long weekend.

Hogwash: Curried Cumin Crackers

Taste Food: Red Hot Low Sodium Chicken Wings

Oui, Chef: Curried Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Maple-Ginger Sweet Potatoes and apples

Allison Fishman: Jersey Za’

Farm & A Frying Pan: Low So Sloppy Joe and Chocolate Bark

Mrs. Wheelbarrow: Broccoli and Potatoes, Indian Style

Haute Apple Pie: Heart Healthy Beef and Broccoli

Gina’s Skinny Recipes: Baked Seasoned Fries with Skinny Garlic Aoli

Couldn’t Be Parve: Love Your Heart Chocolate Pudding

Exercise.com: Recovery Water and Power Bar

Shared Bites: Spicy Polenta Chips with Roasted Red Pepper Dip

The Sustainable Palate: Low Sodium, Big Flavor French Onion Soup

Gotham Skinny: Pistachio And Cardamom Cookies

SF Tao of Pao: Mapo Tofu

The Internat (happy birthday!): Granola

Thank you again to our unbelievable low sodium superheroes who went beyond the call of duty (and who, I hope, are all wearing pants). I know that these recipes – and each cook’s own journey – will inspire you and your loved ones to cook food that will feed and fuel your body. And I also hope they inspire you to experiment and innovate on your own as well.

Even with a low sodium diet, there’s nothing you cannot make. It may taste a little different, it may look a little different, but the creativity you will bring to the table will surely please the eye, stomach, kidney, and heart.

And as for my contribution (this is my party and I can cook if I want to), check out the recipe for “Fake’in Wrapped Scall-Nots” below.

Click, read, and chow on.

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced length-wise with a mandoline
• Bowl of ice cold water
• 2 halibut filets (serves 4 guests, 3 “scallops” each)
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:

1. Mix the curry and brown sugar together in a wide bowl. In a separate bowl, do the same with the cumin and smoked paprika.

2. Bring a small pot of water to boil and quickly blanche the zucchini ribbons, 1-2 minutes. Immediately remove from pot and dunk them into the cold water bath, 3-4 minutes. Remove from water and tap to shake off extra liquid. Roll the zucchini ribbons in the cumin/paprika bowl until well covered. Set aside.

3. Using a tablespoon scoop, press down lightly on the halibut filet (start in the corner, like cutting cookies from dough). Trace the shape with a knife to cut out scallop-like rounds. Repeat until you’ve created 3 scallops per guest.

4. Dredge the halibut rounds in the curry/brown sugar mixture. Make sure both sides are covered.

5. Slice the zucchini lengthwise into three equal ribbons – the width should be about the height of the halibut scallop. Repeat until you have enough ribbons for each piece of fish.

6. Wrap the zucchini ribbon around the halibut and secure with a toothpick. Repeat until all the halibut scallops are wrapped.

7. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high flame. Add the halibut rounds to the pan in a single layer and cook, 5-8 minutes per side or until halibut has a golden sear. Remove halibut and set aside.

8. Just before serving, place all the halibut scallops on a cookie sheet and cook in your oven’s broiler (on low) for 3- 5 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and immediately serve over something luscious, like white wine cream sauce, or something super healthy, like a vibrant pea puree. Enjoy.

Spring Fling

Monday night, SF Tao of Pao, the ladies from Farm & a Frying Pan, and I gathered together for our third installment of our blogger dinner. The theme this evening was “Spring” and the F & FP gals imagined a beautiful menu, consisting of pea risotto, oven baked asparagus, and some iteration of berry cobbler. As the email exchanges flew and logistics were made, I found myself to be the last to respond and suddenly (cue dissonant chord) I was the one in charge of the desert. Dessert means baking. Baking means exact measurements and exact ingredients. And that means failure on my behalf.

Although I had a brief moment of panic – baking is seriously my cooking kryptonite – I was excited to have the opportunity to cook with rhubarb, a tangy vegetable that has found its way into strawberry pies, jams, and the hearts of the American people. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but I decided, this time around, I would find a good recipe, follow it step by step, and create the perfect low sodium, berry, rhubarb pie. Something I could proudly share with others.

Of course, this didn’t happen. Even with a gorgeous Saveur Rhubarb Cobbler recipe in hand, I somehow managed to take major detours and use much (unfounded) creative license. When I realized that I forget to buy milk, I decided that limeaid, pear preserve, and ricotta cheese would work as a good substitution. Right… And then, after promising myself to take my time and make exact measurements – carefully packing the brown sugar down and leveling the baking powder – a few flour spills later and I had thrown my measuring spoons into the sink and decided to do the rest by feel. This is like driving with your eyes closed. Not a good idea.

But somehow, the cobbler turned out doughy, moist, and perfectly sweet. Definitely not a good lesson for me – I got away with baking murder – but now I’m determined to recreate this recipe so that I can pass it (confidently) on to others. In the meantime, here is the actual Saveur recipe (with a few low sodium alterations). Follow it, if you choose to do so. Or go commando, like me, and be prepared to pay the price. Or, on the off chance, reap the rewards. Just when you don’t expect it, you could have a moment of low sodium genius.

Chow on.

Ingredients:

• 6 stalks chopped rhubarb
• 1 basket of strawberries
• 1 basket of blackberries
• 3⁄4 cup brown sugar
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1⁄2 cup coconut milk
• 1 1⁄2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. no sodium added baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. In a medium bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, blackberries, and brown sugar. Mix well and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine 3 tbsp. of the melted unsalted butter, eggs, coconut milk, flour, baking powder, vanilla, and sugar. Beat with a heavy whisk until a smooth batter is formed.

4. Grease a 9″ × 11″ pan with nonstick spray. Pour in the batter. Spread rhubarb over batter and smooth it down so that the top is even. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tbsp. butter.

5. Bake for 40 minutes. The dough will magically rise to the top – so neat to watch. Serve warm with a scoop of low sodium, coconut vanilla ice cream.