A great option for eating at a friend’s house — cook your own

Eating at someone else’s home when you’re on a low-fat, low-salt, low-sugar diet can be a bit excruciating. I’ve written about how I went hungry one July 4th at a cookout with traditional holiday fare, all of it high-fat, high-sodium. I actually dread being invited to friends now and prefer having them over to our house where I can control the menu.

Our host allowed me to cook alongside him, so the back tray has salmon marinated with Mrs Dash salt-free marinades, the front with his home-made, high-salt marinade.

But an acquaintance recently gave me a great alternative. After first asking me what I could eat, she invited me to simply cook my own at her house, working in the kitchen alongside her husband who was doing the cooking for everyone else there.

I brought along some of my trusty Mrs. Dash salt-free marinades for the salmon I was preparing for myself and our hosts even had a separate bowl of cut veggies ready for me to prepare how I wanted before grilling them. I took my usual approach to grilled veggies, adding olive oil and various Italian spices — oregano, thyme and rosemary. Our host’s kitchen was well-stocked with spices, making it an easy task for me.

My veggie bowl. I added olive oil and spices before grilling them.

The result was a dinner with two salt-free salmon fillets, which other diners tried as well, and my salt-free veggies along with an ear of corn and watermelon for dessert. Our hostess also was kind enough to make me some appetizers, spinach balls, without the high-salt, high-fat cheese she put in another batch for everyone else.

All in all, the night was the most relaxed I have had eating elsewhere since my 2012 angioplasty, thank you for understanding and for sharing your kitchen with me.

I also had an interesting conversation with the host while we were cooking together. High blood pressure runs in his family and he’s convinced not eating salt won’t help him on that front. He’s on blood pressure medication, as am I, leaving it to that to control his pressure.

I’ve opted to use the medication and a low-salt diet, wanting to use every weapon at my disposal. Is one of us right and one wrong? Who knows, I assume no position of superior knowledge on this, the so-called science on what we should and shouldn’t eat changes almost daily. Everyone should follow the course they feel comfortable with.

John