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. Continue reading “A great option for eating at a friend’s house — cook your own” →

September 1, 2015 0

July 4th — how not to make it your annual day of fasting

Grilling great July 4th meals when we’re home has become no problem for me on my low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet. I simply turn to fish, like wonderfully delicious salmon, or white meat chicken with rosemary and other spices.

A July 4th salad with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, low-salt olives, fat-free feta, mushrooms and salmon.

But eating away from home on the 4th has become an annual day of fasting for me because other people make the traditional 4th items of hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs and other delicious foods I can no longer eat. I wrote Fourth of July: why I went hungry while the country celebrated in 2013 after a particularly frustrating day at a 4th of July party where there was absolutely zero things I could eat. Continue reading “July 4th — how not to make it your annual day of fasting” →

July 8, 2015 0

Grilling for the 4th of July — try these salmon skewers

This has been grilling week on the blog, with posts about a guide to grilling fish and another about a grilled salad. Here’s another fun idea for your 4th of July grilling weekend, rosemary salmon skewers with cherry tomatoes.

Jillian Michaels' grilled rosemary salmon skewers. — Jillian Michaels’ grilled rosemary salmon skewers.

This recipe comes from the website of former Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels. I sometimes quibble with what she calls healthy eating, but this recipe looks good, once you omit the salt, that is. It’s not needed and will only add to your salt overload, I’d leave it out.

That said, here’s the ingredient list:

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon lemon zest, freshly grated
1 teaspoon lemon juice
~~1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt~~
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound wild Alaskan salmon fillet, center-cut, skinned, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pint organic cherry tomatoes

Just click here to get the instructions for preparation. Continue reading “Grilling for the 4th of July — try these salmon skewers” →

July 2, 2015 4

A slow-cooked salmon recipe with chickpeas, mustard greens

Salmon has become a mainstay of my low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet. I wrote earlier this week of five ways to prepare it for a Memorial Day feast, or any day you expect a large number of people for dinner. Today, another salmon recipe, this one from the website Epicurious.

What intrigued me about this recipe is it’s slow-cooked. Salmon cooked in a 250-degree oven, a bit different from the 450-degree oven I used for my latest salmon creation. Continue reading “A slow-cooked salmon recipe with chickpeas, mustard greens” →

May 26, 2015 0

Memorial Day salmon, 5 ways

Memorial Day is the traditional start of the cookout season but it’s raining in Chicago, so I’m going to adapt a cookout recipe to make in the oven today, salmon done five different ways.

Start with a large piece of salmon, mine was about two and a half pounds. Cut it in half and then cut one of the halves into fourths.

My Memorial Day salmon with corn, these are two of my five preps for the salmon.

For the first prep, slice two lemons thinly and line a piece of aluminum foil with them to make a bed for the larger piece of salmon. Put the salmon on top, then coat with a lemon-infused olive oil. Cover that with a salt-free spice mixture. I used a Greek spice mix bought from our local Spice House. Wrap that one in aluminum foil and it’s ready to go. Continue reading “Memorial Day salmon, 5 ways” →

May 25, 2015 9

Chinook’s: a tucked-away Seattle gem

A coworker who had lived in Washington state recommended my wife and I try a restaurant called Chinook’s while we were there. It’s away from the touristy downtown area of Seattle, but was easily reachable by car and proved a fun night out eating among the Seattle locals.

The place is massive and on the water, as so many restaurants seem to be in Seattle. It’s located at a place called the Fishermen’s Terminal so you can eat and look out the windows at real fishing boats.

Chocolate cake at Chinook's — This was an amazing dessrt, chocolate cake covered with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Wow!

I had salmon, as usual on this trip, and enjoyed it. But the real treat here was the unexpected dessert. I say unexpected because I was trying to maintain my low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet on this vacation and was succeeding, mostly, until our night at Chinook’s. Continue reading “Chinook’s: a tucked-away Seattle gem” →

October 1, 2014 0

Safeco Field offers salmon salad…gotta love it

Seattle is the salmon capital of the continental United States (Alaska does a pretty good job of it as well) but even knowing Seattle’s salmon reputation, I wasn’t prepared to find salmon sold at the Seattle Mariners’ ballpark, Safeco Field.

Salmon salad was a great surprise at Safeco Field in Seattle. Bring your own oil and vinegar packets so you can spike the high-fat dressing.

But that’s where I found it, specifically atop a salad. Ballparks are where we eat hot dogs, but hot dogs have been off my menu since my angioplasty two years ago. That makes going to a baseball game much less fun for me than it once was. I usually can scrounge up a chicken breast sandwich now. Continue reading “Safeco Field offers salmon salad…gotta love it” →

September 26, 2014 2

Ray’s Boathouse: a Seattle gem

My love of salmon made Seattle a logical vacation spot for my wife and I. Seattle is awash in salmon. Indeed we had it everywhere from Pike’s Place Market to Safeco Field. How many baseball stadiums have a salmon offering on their menus? But when we ate out with a good friend of ours who lives in Seattle, she took us to a wonderful place we wouldn’t have found on our own, Ray’s Boathouse.

Seattle is a wonderful place to eat fresh salmon. I had it four days straight, including this wonderful offering at Ray's Boathouse. — My salmon at Ray’s Boathouse in Seattle…wonderful.

Ray’s served me the best salmon I had during my time in Seattle. I asked for it and the asparagus and potatoes that accompanied it with no salt, as I usually do. The special request was not a problem for Ray’s The salmon was the thickest I had in Seattle, and so wonderfully flavorful.

My wife ordered her favorite, halibut, and called it the best halibut she’d ever had, high praise indeed from such a halibut fan. The atmosphere was upscale casual and the place is mammoth, so we had no trouble being seated fairly quickly after we arrived.

Ray’s is a special place to visit should you be in Seattle, enjoy.
John

September 24, 2014 4

Salmon in Seattle: it’s everywhere, enjoy

My wife and I recently vacationed for a few days in Seattle, a city that’s synonymous with salmon which thankfully is allowed on my low-fat, low-sodium post-angioplasty diet because the nutrition thinking these days is that it has so-called good fat. Fine with me, until that view changes, I’m eating salmon often.

I had it everyday we were in Seattle recently, at tourist spots in Seattle’s famous Pike’s
Place Market, at more upscale restaurants where the locals go (we have a friend there who took us out for dinner), even at a baseball game! I’ll be posting about my salmon adventures, and about some food finds in Portland, Ore. where we also visited, over the next few days. Enjoy!

John

September 23, 2014 1

Costco Shopping — can you find no salt, no fat items at a warehouse?

Some people think the only places you can find no-fat, no-salt, no-sugar foods is at a Whole Foods, Trader Joes or other similar upscale store. I beg to differ. I regularly shop at Costco and, while it takes some work, you can find plenty of acceptable things to eat there, even on a restricted diet.

The photo here shows a recent cart full of items I bought at a local Costco. Salmon had been cheaper at Costco than at other retailers. Lately though, I’ve noticed Costco has raised its salmon price to $8.99 a pound, comparable to other retailers.

You can find items for your restricted diet even at a warehouse club like Costco.

Costco produce is normally less expensive than more mainstream stores, if the produce isn’t on special at those stores. I regularly buy my bananas there. I also regularly buy the portobello mushroom caps you see in the photo. And I look for seasonal favorites such as the California figs you can see in my cart. Continue reading “Costco Shopping — can you find no salt, no fat items at a warehouse?” →

August 19, 2013 7

Tag: salmon