Stay cool and smart about salt this summer

The arrival of summer means gardens and farmers’ markets overflowing with amazing bounty like berries, tomatoes and cucumbers. Celebrate all that summer has to offer, but stay cool and be smart about your food choices. Many summertime snacks and seasonings contain lots of sodium, which can raise your blood pressure and strain your kidneys.

Here are a few tips and recipes to help you stay cool while avoiding deadly salt.

Cool as a cucumber

Snack foods and dips are common culprits that can increase sodium in your diet. Cool, crisp cucumbers can replace those salty snacks. Use cucumber slices instead of salty crackers, topping them with your favorite cheese or low-salt spread. Or try the recipe below for tzatziki, a mild, refreshing cucumber dip you can use on pita bread, unsalted pita chips or baby carrots. Tzatziki also is a delicious garnish for grilled meats and fish, or on a baked potato.

If you are a pickle lover, try making this salt-free alternative to add crunch and flavor to your sandwiches, salads or barbecue spreads.

Greek tzatziki

1 large cucumber

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried dill)

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 cups plain yogurt (soy yogurt also works)

Peel, seed and grate 1 large cucumber. Squeeze out as much water as you can. This achieves the same result as salting the cucumber, but without using salt. To make it easy, squeeze the grated cucumber inside a dishcloth or press down gently through a fine sieve. Add the grated cucumber, chopped dill and crushed garlic to the yogurt. Chill it in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Nutritional information (per 2 tablespoons):

Calories: 10, Carbohydrates: 1 gram, Protein: 1 gram, Sodium: 11 milligrams, Potassium: 12 milligrams

No-salt refrigerator pickles

8 pint jars or plastic containers

5 English cucumbers, sliced thin

1 bunch fresh dill, rinsed

2 cups white sugar

5 cups vinegar, red or white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

2 tablespoons dill weed

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons celery seed

½ teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon turmeric

Optional: cloves of garlic and red pepper flakes

Slice cucumbers and layer them in pint jars with fresh dill weed. In a pitcher, stir the sugar into the vinegar until dissolved. Add the remaining seasonings. Pour over the cucumbers. Put lids on the jars and store them in the refrigerator. These pickles will keep for up to 9 months in the refrigerator. For extra zing, add a clove of garlic to each jar, or some red pepper flakes to the spice mix. Makes 8 pint jars. One serving is one pickle.

Nutritional information (per pickle):

Calories: 17, Carbohydrates: 4 grams, Protein: 0 grams, Sodium: 1 milligram

Strawbabies

When my son was very little, he couldn’t say the word “strawberry.” It came out, “strawbaby!” Ever since then at our house, we have had strawbaby jam, strawbaby and spinach salad, strawbaby vinegar and strawbaby and rhubarb squares.