Lower Your Salt and Lift Your Flavor

Do you want to lower your sodium intake, but worry about having flavorless meals? Not to fret — removing excess salt from your diet is easy, as long as you're willing to spice up your recipes!

Use Mustard as a Replacement

Whether you go with Dijon, whole grain or just plain yellow, mustard is a perfect rub for almost any protein — chicken, fish, beef, you name it. It tastes good. When cooked, it'll give your meat a great salty flavor without adding more sodium to your meal.

Swap Canned Vegetables for Frozen

Canned vegetables are usually packed with salt to preserve them for longer periods. Frozen vegetables, for the most part, are cooked to a very high temperature before being quickly frozen for flavor and color conservation, so salt and preservatives aren't necessary. If you don't want the hassle of cooking fresh vegetables, frozen ones are a solid, quick option to include in your meals. They're great to include in smoothies, too.

Make Your Own Salad Dressing

The average salad dressing at a grocery store contains around 5,000 mg of sodium per serving. If you make your own dressing, you can reduce your sodium intake by up to 95 percent — depending on the vinegar and mustard you choose — while also saving money.

For a basic dressing, you need three ingredients — oil, vinegar and an optional teaspoon of mustard, which acts as a combining agent. Whisk three parts oil to one part vinegar. If you want more of that tangy flavor, reduce to two parts oil, one part vinegar.

Create a No-Salt Seasoning Mix

Here's my go-to seasoning mix that is great for adding flavor to any vegetables, fish, meat and poultry.

1 tablespoon thyme

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon dried lemon peel

1 teaspoon chili powder  

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl, and you're ready to go. Two pinches of the seasoning with three fingers will work well. Just make sure your hand is at least six inches away from what you're seasoning so all of the food gets some spice.

Stir Up a Salt-Free Topping

Most store-bought sauces are filled with salt. It is easy, however, to keep your protein from getting dry while you reduce the salt at the same time. Try this delicious recipe:

Saute 1 diced tomato, 1 teaspoon freshly chopped garlic, 2 rough chopped basil leaves (or 1 teaspoon dry basil leaves) and 2 teaspoons lemon juice in a medium pan over medium heat for 3 minutes. Pour on top of any cooked chicken or fish.

Try a New Take on Taco Tuesday

Tacos are a great intergenerational meal, and they are easy to make and fun to eat. But many of us can't enjoy them because most store-bought taco seasonings include too much salt. If you want to take part in Taco Tuesday but are wary of the high sodium content, here's a quick and easy recipe for a make-your-own taco seasoning that cuts all that extra salt:

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and substitute for that salt-packed, store-bought seasoning when it's taco time.

Basil, Basil, Basil

Basil is a perfect additive for soups, and it's also a great spice to add to protein. Simply season your fish or chicken with basil before pan searing, and you won't even know the salt isn't there! If you can, use fresh basil and rough chop it. But dried basil will work great, too — no more than two pinches of it is needed for one person.

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