Slovenian Recipes

I wasn't sure this particular dish could survive without the salt.  I wasn't  too worried about the change in taste.  But I was concerned that the salt might be an essential component of the paste. It provided texture that the powdery paprika by itself did not.  I suspected it might play a role in tenderizing the chicken or sealing in the juice. But it was worth a chance.  So I made the dish with the easiest possible substitution: A commercially prepared no-salt seasoning mix. I am not a big believer in pre-mixed seasoning blends.  We rarely use them.  But I happened to have one on hand: Mrs. Dash salt-free garlic and herb blend.  So that's what I used. The verdict? The chicken cooked beautifully on the grill.  We sliced it and arranged it on a platter.   My husband had prepared two salt-free side dishes: a mixed green salad and kasha with mushrooms. As always, the chicken was moist and delicious.  Everything was low-so...

Is it challenging to make granola without salt?  Not especially, although you might be surprised at how much sodium is lurking in some commercial varieties. Is granola a traditional Slovenian food?  Hardly.  Slovenians are much more inclined to eat muesli, the uncooked Swiss version of an oats-fruit-nut breakfast blend.  Granola and muesli were both developed as health foods in the late nineteenth century.  Muesli seems to have remained true to its healthy European roots, while American granola has evolved into a sweet confection that borders on crumbled cookies. So I'll admit it: Granola was an odd choice for my first venture into low sodium cooking. But I was captivated by the description of Pomegranate Granola Fruit Chunks in Sodium Girl's Limitless Low-Sodium Cookbook, Jessica Goldman Foung's guide to the low salt lifestyle we are starting to adopt at my house. (Take a look at her blog for an online version of a very similar...