Let’s Eat! | Healthy Meal Ideas Packed with Flavor, Not Salt
Courtney Carter
/ Categories: WELLNESS, 2024

Let’s Eat! | Healthy Meal Ideas Packed with Flavor, Not Salt

Cutting down on salt is one of the kindest things we can do for our health. From reducing blood pressure and the risk of a heart attack to helping with liver and kidney health, a low-salt diet simply does a body good.

Fortunately, there are plenty of recipes that make it easy to skimp on salt but not flavor. Here are just two options to slip into your menu rotation. My guess is everyone will be too busy enjoying their meal to even notice the lack of salt.

 

Southwest Turkey Burger

Serves 4   

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground turkey breast

  • 1/2 cup no-salt-added canned black beans, rinsed and drained

  • 3 scallions, green part only, finely chopped

  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 3/4 teaspoon chili powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

  • 1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

  • Cooking spray

  • 4 burger or other type of sandwich rolls

  • 1-2 cups lettuce, chopped 

  • 4 tomato slices

  • 1 avocado, peeled and sliced

  • 1/4 medium onion, red or white, sliced

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

  2. In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, black beans, scallions, garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder, black pepper, and serrano or jalapeno pepper until blended. Form into 4 patties.

  3. Lightly coat a medium frying pan with cooking spray. Cook burger patties, covered, until they reach 165°F, roughly 4 minutes per side.

  4. Serve cooked patties on buns, topping lettuce, tomato, avocado, and onion. 

 

Air Fryer Crispy Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose, gluten-free, or whole wheat flour  

  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, or, 2 teaspoons dried parsley, crumbled

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano

  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional), or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

  • 1/2 to 1 cup low-fat buttermilk

  • 1/2 tablespoon red hot-pepper sauce, or to taste (optional)

  • 1/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs

  • 1/3 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese

  • 1 pound chicken tenders or boneless skinless breasts pounded to ¼”

  • Cooking spray

Directions:

  1. Preheat the air fryer to 390°F.

  2. In a shallow dish or pie pan, whisk together the flour, parsley, oregano, pepper and cayenne.

  3. In a separate shallow dish, whisk together the buttermilk and hot sauce. In a third shallow dish or pie pan, stir together the crispbread crumbs and Parmesan. Set the dishes and a large plate in a row, assembly-line fashion.

  4. Pat chicken pieces dry then dip in the flour mixture, turn to coat evenly. Shake lightly to remove excess. Then dip in the buttermilk mixture, again turning and shaking lightly when done. Next, place the chicken in the breadcrumbs and gently press the mixture on the chicken so that it sticks.

  5. Arrange chicken pieces in a single layer in the air fryer basket, leaving space between each piece. You may need to cook in batches. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side  , or until the chicken reaches 165°F and the coating is golden brown. Serve with no- or low-salt dipping sauces such as barbecue, honey mustard, or chipotle mayonnaise.

 

For more low-salt recipes, visit the USDA’s MyPlate website.

Kristin Irace, RD, LDN, is a registered dietitian in in-patient, renal dialysis, oncology, and cardiac rehab services at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

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Emergency Department: Open, Ready, Safe. 

The last 3 months have been a uniquely challenging experience in the SVMC Emergency Department (ED) and emergency departments and hospitals all over the country and the world. I am very proud of all our staff has done and continues to do to ensure safe care for patients during this era of COVID-19. We are grateful that cases of COVID-19 in our area have been the lowest in the U.S. and have decreased even further over the past several weeks. We are also heartened to see that patients who had been avoiding the ED are now confident to return to get the care they need.

It may be surprising to hear that over the past few months, the sickest patients we have seen in the ER have not had COVID-19. Many people have refrained from seeking care for serious medical problems due to the fear of being exposed to the virus, assuming that the hospital was not a safe place to be and not recognizing the seriousness of their symptoms. The most challenging moments of the past several months have involved critically ill patients who tried to stay away for far too long due to fear of being exposed to COVID-19. We have had many sad moments trying to care for those who waited until it was too late for us to help with conditions that could have been easily treated if presented sooner.

One might expect that the greatest challenges related to the pandemic were those needed to adapt our facilities and procedures and the work of caring for sick COVID-19 patients. SVMC is fortunate to have built a strong foundation of safety and infection-prevention methods over many years, which made this transition much easier. Still, when it became apparent that we were going to see COVID-19 cases coming through our doors, we implemented many COVID-specific changes very quickly.

From day one our staff have all been fully trained to use protective equipment effectively, to focus on cleaning and disinfecting, and to move patients safely through the new areas created to keep them safe. We also spaced the waiting room chairs to allow for plenty of distance and initiated drive-by testing to keep potentially contagious people outside and away from other patients.

We immediately increased our standard of protective equipment we use. For example, all staff who relate with patients now wear both a mask and protective shield, which is a proven and effective strategy to prevent transmission. Those staff who work with patients with respiratory or other contagious symptoms also wear a gown and advanced respirators developed in cooperation with Mack Molding in Arlington. They look strange, but they help us deliver care safely.

We also quickly built special spaces and units in the hospital to treat and segregate patients with respiratory symptoms who might be contagious from those with other routine medical problems. Outpatients with symptoms that could be related to COVID-19 are directed to a spacious area called the Respiratory Evaluation Center. There they can be taken to a safe treatment space called a negative-pressure room without encountering any patients who are using the ED for other reasons or any staff who are not fully equipped with protective gear. There are similar, safe, negative-pressure units for those who require treatment in the ED or hospital.

Our hard work paid off. We have treated a number of COVID-19 patients in our ED and, as far as we know, not a single staff member was sickened in relation to their work here, and no patients have contracted COVID-19 while under our care. With our current procedures and drastically declining COVID numbers, we are confident that we can continue that trend. Furthermore, SVMC recently received a perfect score on a rigorous survey specifically designed to judge our ability to prevent transmission of COVID-19. At this time our ED is safer than just about any other public place you could go.

My goal in writing today is to communicate that SVMC’s Emergency Department is open, ready, and safe. If you need emergency care, we are here and we can care for you safely. Please do not defer emergency care until it is too late for us to help. While many symptoms can represent a serious medical problem, the most concerning are chest pain, difficulty breathing, fast heart rate, confusion, high fever, intense headache, drooping face, dehydration, or weakness. Of course, with any other symptom you feel indicates a serious problem, come in right away or call 9-1-1.

For us, spending time with patients and connecting on a personal level is the best part of our jobs. We take pride in our life-saving role in our communities and the work we have been able to do during the pandemic, but we cannot help if you do not come in. Please don’t hesitate to get the care you need when you need it.

Adam Cohen, MD, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. He also serves as the chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and the medical director of SVMC’s Emergency Department.

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