Showing You How To Give Up Sodium Without Giving Up Your Life
Low Sodium Cooking - Issue 9, Number 8 - Turkey Dinner
This week's recipes:
- Broth Injected Turkey
- Turkey Gravy
- Stuffing Bread
- Stuffing
- Green Bean Bundles
- Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
- Traditional Apple Pie
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who may
have an interest.
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Hello to all our regulars and welcome to the new subscribers.
It's that time of year again. Thanksgiving is approaching here in the
United States and many people will be wondering if it's possible to
have a low sodium Thanksgiving dinner. So it's time for our annual
turkey dinner newsletter.
This is the 9th time I've done this issue and I was wondering as I cut
and pasted recipes and whole paragraphs from previous ones whether it
really made sense to do it again. But it is traditional and
Thanksgiving is more about food traditions than any other holiday.
Also there are about 2500 subscribers who weren't here last November,
so if you're reading it for what seems like the 15th time, try to think
of them.
Most of these recipes have appeared before, some a number of times. As
I said, we are talking tradition, after all. In our family at least,
Thanksgiving dinner looks almost the same from one year to the next.
Hopefully I didn't mess up too much in the cutting and pasting of
previous work to create this.
The idea of this issue is to help people have the kind of meal they've
traditionally liked without going over their sodium limit. It will
probably be higher than most meals you eat, but hopefully we'll be
careful enough that at least most of it will fit into everyone's diet.
Of course there are other limits you'll need to be aware of too. A
number of the traditional recipes are fairly high in sugar and fat,
even though the sodium counts might be reasonable. Even though part of
the tradition is overeating, you should be careful to enjoy yourself
while still sticking to your diet.
But the bottom line is to enjoy your holiday. I hope the comments and
recipes below will help some do that.
These recipes are also available online in Microsoft Word format at
http://www.lowsodiumcooking.com/free/Recipes111309.doc
Enjoy.
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This week's issue will include additional comments interspersed with
recipes as I run down the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, at least
what's traditional in my family.
The centerpiece of most Thanksgiving dinners is turkey. And this can
also be the center of the sodium problem. We can probably blame the
"self-basting" turkey, which has been around for a long while now, for
being the forerunner of all the "enhanced" meats we see these days. It
has become quite difficult to find turkeys and chickens that have not
been injected with a broth solution to increase juiciness and
tenderness. This is a good way to make the breast meat, which has less
fat than the dark meat, more juicy, but the solution used raises the
sodium level from the 65-80 mg range for natural turkey meat to 300 mg
or more. I went out this morning and did my annual check of the closest
grocery stores here in southern Maryland to see what the sodium content
of available turkeys was. As in the past, the news was mostly bad. It
has been pretty consistent for the past five years now, so things don't
seem to be getting worse. It was still far enough before the holiday
that stores didn't have the full stock of turkeys available yet,
particularly fresh ones, which are often the only low sodium choice.
Neither Giant or Safeway had any birds that didn't have added sodium.
The lowest there was a Safeway store brand with 190 mg per serving.
McKay's, a local chain, had a ShurFine brand bird that says it's "self
basting", but only has 120 mg per serving. That brand is pretty widely
distributed and may be available at other independent stores. The
really good news was at BJs Wholesale Club, which only had turkeys with
no added sodium. They had a Harvestland organic bird with 80 mg per
serving and both fresh and frozen Perdue birds listed as 50 mg for the
white meat and 70 mg for the dark. I'm also hoping that as in the
past there will be more fresh turkeys available nearer the holiday
without the added broth. My advice as always is to shop carefully.
There are some other good sources of natural turkeys. If you have a
local butcher shop or meat market you can probably find one there.
Here in southern Maryland there are several farmers in the Amish
community who sell fresh poultry. And a store like Whole Foods or
Trader Joe's that carries organic birds may also have some.
Now on to the cooking ....
There are probably as many people claiming to have to best way to cook
a turkey as there are people cooking turkeys. Our favorite is the
recipe below. It gives you a nice juicy bird with crispy skin. Other
methods probably work just as well. We also like deep fried turkey, and
we often do that for Christmas, when it seems to take a little longer
to get into the kitchen and start dinner.
=====================
Broth Injected Turkey
You can get the same kind of extra juiciness that the commercial meat
packers do while saving lots of sodium by injecting your own turkey.
Using a low sodium chicken broth adds very little sodium per serving.
You can find injectors in the gadget aisle of many large supermarkets.
Often they are with the barbecue equipment. You can also buy one online
somewhere like cooking.com for only a few dollars. Starting the cooking
at a high temperature seals in the juices and gives you a nice brown
skin.
12 lb Turkey
1 c Low Sodium Chicken Or Turkey Broth
Preheat oven to 500F. Using a hypodermic needle or baster-injector
inject the broth into the turkey, concentrating mainly on the breast.
Put turkey in the oven. Let cook for 20 minutes or until the exterior
is crisp, but not golden brown. Reduce heat to 375F. Let bird roast
until finished.
Yield: 24 Servings
Per Serving:
256 Calories
49 g Protein
6 g Total Fat
2 g Saturated Fat
2 g Polyunsaturated Fat
1 g Monounsaturated Fat
0 g Carbohydrates
0 g Fiber
83 mg Sodium
685 mg Potassium
154 mg Cholesterol
=====================
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
First on your list of side dishes is probably mashed potatoes and
gravy. Making your own mashed potatoes from scratch isn't too
difficult, the usual recipe seems to be about 1 1/2 cups heated milk
and 3 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine per 6 large boiled
potatoes. If you buy the instant ones, make sure you check the label
(as with any processed food). Some contain added salt. The Hungry Jack
brand is one nationally available one that does not contain any salt.
The "complete" ones are usually the worse. Also be aware that the milk
contains naturally occurring sodium, so take that into consideration.
You can substitute some chicken broth or broth from the turkey pan for
some of the water or milk to add a little flavor if you like.
Turkey Gravy
One year looking for new recipes I did a search for turkey gravy
recipes online. I found some with 20 ingredients and a full page of
instructions. Seemed like a bit of overkill to me ... my mother never
went to that trouble and neither do I. Basically what you need is the
broth in the bottom of the roasting pan and some flour to thicken it.
I will go a little further than that though. One trick I learned some
years ago to add some additional flavor to the gravy is to put half an
onion, a cut up carrot and a few stalks of celery in the bottom of the
roasting pan. A more recent trick I read is for separating the fat if
you don't happen to have one of those measuring cups with the spout at
the bottom designed for that purpose. Pour the pan juices into a
zipper baggie, then snip a small triangle off a bottom corner and let
the broth drip out until nothing is left but the fat. The recipe below
is for 2 cups of gravy (not nearly enough, in my opinion). Use a
tablespoon of flour for each cup for a fairly thin gravy. You can add
additional low sodium broth at this point if you need to to make more
gravy.
2 c Turkey Broth
2 T Flour
2 T Turkey Fat
Pour broth from roasting pan, allow to settle and drain off fat.
Add 2 tablespoons of fat back to the pan. Heat, scraping up any
browned bits from the bottom. Add flour, stir until it begins
to form a ball. Add broth, cook and stir until thickened.
Yield: 8 Servings
Per Serving:
38 Calories
1 g Protein
3 g Total Fat
1 g Saturated Fat
1 g Polyunsaturated Fat
1 g Monounsaturated Fat
1 g Carbohydrates
0.1 g Fiber
15 mg Sodium
2 mg Potassium
3 mg Cholesterol
=====================
Stuffing
Stuffing (or perhaps more accurately dressing for those like us who
don't actually stuff it in the bird) is another tradition.
Unfortunately, even the "lower sodium" Stove Top mix is pretty high is
sodium. I started baking stuffing bread quite a few years ago,
patterning it after a loaf that one of the local stores sells of the
bread that usually would be cubed and bagged. This gives you a head
start on the flavor you want. This is another area where everyone has
a different idea of what should be in stuffing, so feel free to
experiment. Bell's makes a salt free stuffing seasoning that has nice
flavor and is available in some local stores as well as online. Their
prepared mix is as bad as Stove Top though.
Stuffing Bread
This was inspired by a local store that used to sell loaves of sliced
stuffing bread around the holidays. It makes great sandwiches with
leftover turkey as well as stuffing. You may want to make this a few
days in advance, cube it and let it dry out.
1 1/4 c Water
1 T Unsalted Margarine
3 1/4 c Bread Flour
2 T Sugar
1/2 t Tarragon
1/4 t Rosemary
1 T Poultry Seasoning
1/2 t Parsley
1/2 t Minced Onion
1 3/4 t Yeast
Place ingredients in bread machine in order specified by
manufacturer. Process on large white loaf cycle.
Yield: 12 Servings
Per Serving:
153 Calories
5 g Protein
2 g Total Fat
0 g Saturated Fat
1 g Polyunsaturated Fat
1 g Monounsaturated Fat
29 g Carbohydrates
1 g Fiber
2 mg Sodium
53 mg Potassium
0 mg Cholesterol
Stuffing
This is kind of a framework for making stuffing. Almost everyone has
different herbs and additives they like. Feel free to change the
seasonings with such things as thyme and basil. You can also add other
things like chestnuts or other nuts, apples or dried fruit, mushrooms,
chopped turkey giblets, etc. if this is something you would normally
do. The longer you let the bread cubes dry out before making the
stuffing, the more broth you will need. Many recipes also call for
melted butter or margarine, or butter pats on top during baking, but
I've left these out in the interest of reduced fat. This mixture can of
course also be used for stuffing the bird.
8 c Stuffing Bread,Cubed Or Crumbled
2 c Low Sodium Chicken Or Turkey Broth
1 c Onion,Chopped
1/2 c Celery,Chopped
2 t Tarragon
1 t Sage
1 t Poultry Seasoning
1 1/2 t Black Pepper
Combine all ingredients and toss lightly. Place in a greased 9x13
baking dish. Bake at 350 until heated through, about 30 minutes.
Yield: 12 Servings
Per Serving:
186 Calories
8 g Protein
3 g Total Fat
1 g Saturated Fat
1 g Polyunsaturated Fat
1 g Monounsaturated Fat
46 g Carbohydrates
18.5 g Fiber
51 mg Sodium
907 mg Potassium
1 mg Cholesterol
If you are more into the southern style cornbread stuffing, take
a look at these two recipes instead,
http://www.lowsodiumcooking.com/free/Cornbread.htm
http://www.lowsodiumcooking.com/free/CornbreadStuffing.htm
=====================
Vegetables
We'll have some green vegetable, usually green beans. This is a new
recipe, for anyone that is keeping score. We've been making these for
4 or 5 years, but for some reason I've never included it. I had to
send the recipe to my son when he moved to Arizona, he said it wouldn't
be Thanksgiving without them.
Green Bean Bundles
This has become a holiday tradition at our house. The lowest sodium
bacon I can find is a Safeway store brand with 60 mg of sodium per
slice. We also usually partially pre-cook the bacon so it will be
crisper.
1 1/2 lb Fresh Green Beans
1/2 c Unsalted Butter,Melted
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 t garlic Powder
8 slices Low Sodium Bacon
Wrap 8-10 green beans in 1/2 slice bacon and secure with toothpick and
place in 9x13 glass baking dish. Make glaze with butter, brown sugar
and garlic powder and pour over bundles. Bake at 375 covered for 40
min; uncover and bake 5 minutes longer.
Yield: 8 Servings
Per Serving:
224 Calories
5 g Protein
15 g Total Fat
8 g Saturated Fat
1 g Polyunsaturated Fat
4 g Monounsaturated Fat
20 g Carbohydrates
2.9 g Fiber
72 mg Sodium
276 mg Potassium
39 mg Cholesterol
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a good choice for this meal and traditional in
our family. They are naturally very low in sodium. There's a nice
casserole recipe on the website that I've included a few times, but we
usually just boil them until almost done then bake in a covered
casserole with a little orange juice and honey drizzled over top.
We will probably do the traditional mashed sweet potato casserole with
the marshmallows on top too, since my daughter wouldn't think it was
Thanksgiving otherwise.
Rutabaga
There will also be rutabagas at our house, traditional in my
wife's family. I haven't any idea what heritage that comes from
since she's Italian/Irish/Dutch/English/etc., but at 20 mg per
serving, feel free to indulge yourself in a large helping.
=====================
Cranberry Sauce and other Munchies
Go for it. Regular canned cranberry sauce, either the jellied or
whole berry variety, has nothing in it that would be a problem for
most diets. It has minimal sodium, no fat and is perfectly
acceptable as is. Along the same line. sweet pickles are
generally low in sodium. Stay away from dill pickles and olives.
Celery and carrot sticks are great. There is also a cranberry onion
relish recipe on the website if you are looking for something a little
different.
=====================
Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
I like fresh hot rolls with my Thanksgiving dinner. This recipe is
actually the same as the one I use for hamburger buns. The only
difference will be in the shaping. We've been making this whole wheat
version for several years and it's become very popular.
1 c Water
2 T Unsalted Margarine
1/4 c Egg Substitute
2 c Bread Flour
1 1/4 c Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 c Sugar
1 T Yeast
Place in bread machine in order specified by manufacturer. Process on
dough cycle. At end of cycle remove to a floured board. Pull into 16
pieces. Shape each into a rounded roll and place in greased 9x13 pan or
in individual muffin cups. Cover and let rise until double, about 1/2
hour. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven 12-15 minutes or until golden
brown.
Yield: 16 Servings
Per Serving:
124 Calories
4 g Protein
2 g Total Fat
0 g Saturated Fat
1 g Polyunsaturated Fat
1 g Monounsaturated Fat
23 g Carbohydrates
2.0 g Fiber
9 mg Sodium
85 mg Potassium
0 mg Cholesterol
=====================
Dessert
Pumpkin pie is the traditional ending for the big meal. And the
good news is that Cool Whip is low in both fat and sodium, unlike
whipped cream. If you want a whipped topping, RediWhip is also
sodium free and low in fat. There are recipes for pumpkin custard and
pumpkin pie on the web site. But we also like apple pie, and that's
what I've decided to include here this year.
Traditional Apple Pie
This is a simple, yet delicious pie, the kind your grandmother used to
make.
2 2/3 c Flour
2/3 c Oil
1/4 c Water
3/4 c Sugar
2 T Flour
1 t Cinnamon
1/8 t Nutmeg
6 c Apples,Sliced And Peeled
2 T Unsalted Margarine
Add oil to flour and mix well with fork. Sprinkle water over and mix
well. With hands press into 2 balls and flatten. Roll each between two
pieces in waxed paper. Remove top waxed paper, invert over pan and
remove other paper. Press into place. Combine sugar, flour cinnamon
and nutmeg. Mix with apples. Heap in pastry lined 9 inch pie plate.
Dot with margarine. Add top crust and seal edges. Cut vents in top.
Bake at 425 until crust is browned and apples are tender, 50 to 60
minutes.
Yield: 8 Servings
Per Serving:
458 Calories
5 g Protein
23 g Total Fat
3 g Saturated Fat
11 g Polyunsaturated Fat
6 g Monounsaturated Fat
63 g Carbohydrates
2.4 g Fiber
1 mg Sodium
128 mg Potassium
0 mg Cholesterol
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Publisher's Ranting
So there you are ... traditional American excess. I won't add up the
calories, but let's take a quick look at the sodium and see how we've
done.
Turkey (3 ounces each white and dark) (166 mg)
Mashed Potatoes (30 mg)
Stuffing (51 mg)
Gravy (15 mg)
Rutabaga (20 mg)
Green Bean Bundles (72 mg)
Sweet Potatoes (13 mg)
Hot Roll with unsalted margarine or butter (or the butter flavored
spray (9 mg)
Celery and carrot sticks (20 mg)
Apple pie with cool whip topping (1 mg)
Total sodium 397 mg
More than you'd want to have per meal on a daily basis perhaps, but for
the biggest single meal of the year, not that bad at all in my opinion.
(You may have noticed that, as usual, I sneaked in twice the
recommended serving of meat, knowing that I can't resist a taste or two
while carving and probably a few more while putting away). The keys are
of course the same as usual, finding or making low sodium replacements
for the high sodium items and being careful how much you eat,
particularly of items that are high in sodium or whatever other
nutrients you are watching.
Everyone have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and we'll be back to
talk to you soon.
'til next time,
Dick
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Quote of the Week
Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it
comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.
- Edward Sandford Martin
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Administrative Stuff
Today's Low Sodium Cooking was created while listening to
a David Eddings audio book.
Have a wonderful and healthy week and we'll talk to you again
soon.
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provided, are accurate or that each recipe is appropriate for
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please seek the advice of your physician or health care
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Dick Logue
Webmaster, http://www.LowSodiumCooking.com
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(301) 934-0543
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