I was sick for most of last week, a bug that seemed to only go away after lots of rest, movies, and soup. The good news? Well, besides an excuse to catch up on Homeland, lots and lots of soup. The downside? More sodium than my body can handle. I never thought of myself as salt-sensitive but then again, I rarely eat a lot of processed foods and try to keep my sodium intake pretty low.  After three days of eating more soup than my body could handle, I was puffier than a blow fish. I’m serious- my eyes were puffy, my fingers were puffy, gross. My sodium intake had skyrocketed and the effects were not pretty.

The problem from a health standpoint isn’t that diets high in sodium are bad,  it’s diets  high sodium AND low in minerals like potassium, magnesium, & and calcium. The balance of 1:2 sodium to potassium is best for blood pressure. No coincidence, we find potassium in “healthy” foods like Swiss chard, potatoes, bananas, spinach, lentils, and the like.

If your potassium intake is significantly lower than your sodium intake, flip the ratio. Adding potassium containing foods is easy- this blog of healthy recipes is a great place to start!

If your diet is higher in sodium, there are lots of easy ways to cut back.  Start by looking on the labels of your favorite foods, you might be surprised at which items contain a lot of sodium: cereals, breads, seasoning packets. Find alternatives that are lower in sodium. I know for me, I rarely eat bread without something on it, usually avocado, hummus, or nut butter. Those items tend to be salty enough that I don’t miss the salt in my low-sodium bread.What works for you?

When you gradually cut down the salt, your taste buds adjust! Start off by slowly reducing the amount you use to cook with and see if you notice a difference.  Other tips include:

• Choose foods that are low in sodium. Less than 140mg of sodium per serving is considered a “low-sodium” product
• TASTE food before salting it. Get used to the taste of natural flavors
• Use spices and herbs as flavoring! Avoid mixed seasonings and spice blends that include salt, such as garlic salt
• Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables! You’ll get more potassium, which is beneficial in high sodium diets
• Many drinks like sports drinks, juice, and smoothies can be very high in sodium. Try water instead!
• Prepared meats, like bacon, ham, hot dogs, and deli meats are very high in sodium. If you need another reason to limit them, here’s you are.
• If you still use a saltshaker, take it off the table!

What do you do to reduce sodium in your diet?

Ever since I made these lemon salts, I have been trying to find new salts to create. Heading back to the East Coast this summer, I was looking to make a few salts to gift to friends and family.

I received a large bunch of Lemon Verbena in our CSA a few weeks ago, a very fragrant herb that I had no clue what to do with. I searched the internet for a few recipes and didn’t come up with much. Lots of cookie, cake, and ice cream recipes but nothing that I really inspired me to go further. However, I loved the smell of lemon verbena and thought it would make for a great finishing salt.

I followed the same directions as my lemon-parsley salt. Dry the zest and lemon verbena leaves until no moisture remains- about 1 hour in a 180 degree oven. Pulse in a food processor until fine. Add sea salt and pulse a few more times to combine.

To balance out the lemon verbena salt, I choose thai chilies to focus on next. The ultimate salt and pepper combination, Thai chilies pack quite a punch. Perfect for rubs, curries, and blackened tofu, this Thai chili salt might be my new favorite.

Follow the same directions as above. Pulse 4 dried chilies in a food processor until fine. Add flaky sea salt and pulse a few times to combine.

Don’t like thai chilies? Use dried chipotle peppers instead.

This is a delicious twist on regular salt, perfect on vegetables or as a gift! I made some gift baskets last month containing my lavender cookies, strawberry jam, and this lemon parsley salt.

Play with whatever citrus you have available, make a few or make just one. I made a few different varieties: meyer lemon, lime, clementines. However, the lemon parsley one is my favorite. Try it on a fresh tomatoes and corn this summer. Perfection!

Lemon Parsley Salt

Ingredients:

1 cup flaky sea salt (Use whatever salt you like, I use Maldon sea salt)
2 1/2 tbsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. parsley leaves

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Zest your citrus to get 2 1/2 tbsp. zest. Reserve the lemon juice for later use. If you’re not using it right away, freeze the juice in an ice cube tray.

Place the zest onto a piece of parchment paper lying on a baking sheet. Spread the zest so it’s in as even a layer as possible.

Dry the zest in the oven for ~45-55 minutes, until there is no more moisture left in the zest. You don’t want to burn it, but you want it to be dry. Remove from oven and let cool.

In a food processor, pulse together the zest, sea salt, and parsley leaves until fine.

Place in airtight jars and use however you would use salt.