Salt for Life

Like many of you, I’ve watched a fair amount of cooking competition shows. Whether it is Iron Chef, Food Network Star or some other show, a dish is dead on arrival if it is not “properly seasoned”. That is a favorite saying from the judges on the show Chopped!. Years ago I saw an interview with a celebrity chef who stated the main difference between his dishes and those of a home cook, is that his were “properly seasoned”.

When you hear the phrase “properly seasoned” on one of those shows, it usually means salt. I’ve tried to keep that in mind in my cooking and while I find that while I very rarely add salt to a dish once it is on my plate, I do add salt to almost all of them during cooking.

While salt, or sodium more specifically, is critical to the operation of the body, too much of it can cause quite a bit of harm: high blood pressure, osteoporosis and heart disease. So what is a chef to do?

The good folks at NuTek sent me an alternative to try out. Salt for Life is not a salt alternative, it is salt, just one with much less sodium than typical salt. Made from a blend of Potassium Salt from Canada plus Sea Salt from either Brazil or the Dead Sea, it has 75% less sodium than typical table salt and it adds potassium which most people don’t get enough of.

Side by side, the granules of Salt for Life are a little larger than table salt. How does it taste? It is salty, just like you would expect. I decided to start cooking with it to see if I could taste a difference in my cooking.

Grilled Sockeye salmon with fresh herbs and zests

This salmon has some great flavor.

The salmon filets were seasoned with Salt for Life and pepper, then with a few herbs and lemon and orange zest.

You could not tell there wasn’t kosher salt in this. I’ve been cooking with Salt for Life for several weeks now whenever salt is called for and I get all the salty flavor I want with much less sodium and much more potassium. A win!

Grilled Sockeye salmon with fresh herbs and zests

Servings: Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:

1 – 1 1/2 lbs. salmon fillets, cut to portions, with skin on
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1-2 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs like lemon thyme, thyme, oregano
salt
pepper
olive oil
1-2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Heat the grill over medium-high heat (until it reaches 400 F). Meanwhile, rub each fillet with some of the zest and herbs, a sprinkle with salt and pepper and a drizzle oil on top. Rub some oil on the skin side too.

Place salmon skin side down on the hot grill, close the grill and cook for about 7 minutes* or until top looks opaque. You can make a small cut to check for doneness.

Serve with some butter on each portion.

Source: http://www.familyfriendlyfood.com/2009/06/salmon-in-seattle-or-copper-river-salmon-two-ways/