Get the Salt Out (67 page)

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To add healthy variety to your diet
, eat at ethnic restaurants as long as you are smart about salt when you do. First, choose the least commercial, most authentic ethnic restaurants in town. They are much more apt to offer real food rather than entrees made from salty processed ingredients. Second, order dishes where fresh vegetables are emphasized. Vegetables,
as you know, are low in sodium and extremely high in sodium-balancing potassium.

423
Going Italian?
Steer clear of buttery items, heavy tomato sauces, and cheesy pasta dishes. Instead order chicken, veal, fish, or shellfish prepared with garlic and lots of herbs, and add a big, green leafy salad. Flavorful vegetables abound in Italian cooking—choose from broiled mushrooms; sautéed peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant; braised spinach or escarole; or steamed artichokes. If you order the artichoke though, skip the butter sauce for dipping and ask for a vinaigrette dressing on the side.

424
At Greek or Middle Eastern restaurants,
order chicken Athenian (Greek lemon-herb chicken), Mediterranean-style fish (broiled with olive oil, garlic, and herbs), broiled lamb chops, meat and vegetable kebabs, or perhaps stuffed grape leaves. don’t forget about salads at Mediterranean restaurants; they’re delicious topped with
Tzatziki
sauce (yogurt-cucumber sauce), red wine vinaigrette, or garlic herbed olive oil. If you’re sensitive to salt, make it a practice to ask for your salad without olives and feta cheese.

425
When you visit a French or continental restaurant,
look for baked, broiled, poached, or steamed foods. Poached salmon is almost always a winner, but be sure to politely ask for the sauce—whatever it is—on the side. Other recommended entrées include
poulet aux fines herbes
(roast chicken with herbs), fish
en papillote
(fish cooked in its own juices with herbs), sole almondine, steamed mussels, salad
Niçoise
(minus the tuna, if it is canned), or salad
nouvelle
(minus the cheese).

426
If you like Mexican food,
understand that the fillings and sauces in Mexican dishes usually are heavily salted (unless the restaurant makes its food from scratch, in which case you can ask for your entrée to be prepared without salt). To minimize the salt usually used in Mexican restaurants, get into
the habit of ordering entrees like burritos, tostadas, or even huevos rancheros without cheese; try a small dab of guacamole, sour cream, or salsa instead for flavor. Fish entrees tend to be some of the lower-sodium picks at Mexican restaurants. Good selections include grilled fish tacos; red snapper or sea bass prepared Veracruz-style (with tomatoes, peppers, and onions); or
camardnes al mojo de ajo
(shrimp sautéed in olive oil with garlic). Although not a truly authentic Mexican food, gazpacho, a refreshing cold vegetable soup, is a healthy choice that can be found in many Mexican restaurants.

427
The sodium content of Indian food
varies depending on the restaurant. With tasty spice combinations such as curries, Indian food certainly doesn’t need salt, but some restaurants add quite a bit anyway. Call around and see if you can find an Indian restaurant that will cook individual orders without salt if you ask for it. Many are able to honor that request. If not, your best bets to order at Indian restaurants are the simplest entrees—dishes such as chicken or lamb tandoori or korma; chicken or lamb kebabs; or dahl salad (made with bulgur, snow peas, tomato, and olive oil).

428
Japanese food tends to be unusually high in salt
and should, for the most part, be avoided. If you do go to a Japanese restaurant, be especially savvy about salt: look on the menu for grilled or steamed fish or ask if hibachi-style entrees can be prepared without the soy sauce and added salt. Also try sushi made from cooked crab and shrimp, or sushi made from vegetables like avocados and cucumbers. A dab or two of wasabi (Japanese horseradish) is all you need to add kick to even the most simply prepared Japanese entrees.

BONUS TIP: don’t
be tempted to try sushi made from raw fish. No matter how meticulously raw fish is prepared, it can be contaminated with parasites. Although raw fish sushi may seem like a novelty worth trying, just a bite of contaminated fish can be dangerous.
Enjoy exotic cuisine without the health risks by sticking with sushi made from vegetables or cooked seafood.

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If Chinese food is on the menu,
beware. Most Chinese sauces such as hoison, oyster, black bean, and soy sauces are just loaded with salt. Find out what dishes can be made to order and request that no MSG, salt, or any of the sauces listed above be used in your meal. Create tasty combinations by choosing chicken, beef, seafood, or tofu, then combine your choice with vegetables like broccoli, scallions, snow peas, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and bok choy (Chinese cabbage). Ask for your mixture to be stir-fried in peanut, sesame, or canola oil or, even better, order it steamed. To add extra flavor to your meal, request sides of hot mustard, crushed garlic, minced ginger, chopped scallions, and Chinese five-spice powder.