Smoky Maple-Mustard Salmon Recipe (Low Sodium)

Last night, I made this salmon dish with the mustard maple sauce from eating well.com, Smoky Maple-Mustard Salmon Recipe. It was simple and delicious. Everyone enjoyed it. We are carefully watching sodium in my house, so this coming in at 276 mg of sodium is great!

INGREDIENTS 

• 3 tablespoons whole-grain or Dijon mustard 
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup 
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika or ground chipotle pepper (see Notes) 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (*obviously could be omitted, but because it is so low even with this, I kept it in.)
• 4 4-ounce skinless center-cut wild-caught salmon fillets (see Notes) 

PREPARATION 

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.
2. Combine mustard, maple syrup, paprika (or chipotle), pepper and salt in a small bowl. Place salmon fillets on the prepared baking sheet. Spread the mustard mixture evenly on the salmon. Roast until just cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes. (*I turned the broiler on for the last minute or two of cooking which gave the sauce a really beautiful look and tasted great!) 

• Notes: Smoked paprika is made from smoke-dried red peppers and adds earthy, smoky flavor. Look for different types of paprika at some large supermarkets or at tienda.com or penzeys.com. 
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• Chipotle peppers are dried, smoked jalapeño peppers. Ground chipotle chile pepper can be found in the spice section of most supermarkets or online at penzeys.com. 
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• Wild-caught salmon from the Pacific (preferably Alaskan) is considered the best choice for the environment because it is more sustainably fished and has a larger, more stable population. Farmed salmon, including Atlantic, should be avoided, as it endangers the wild salmon population. For more information, visit Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch at seafoodwatch.org. 
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• NUTRITION

  
  
  Per serving: 148 calories; 4 g fat (1 g sat, 2 g mono); 53 mg cholesterol; 4 g carbohydrates; 3 g added sugars; 23 g protein; 0 g fiber; 276 mg sodium; 434 mg potassium.
  
  Nutrition Bonus: Omega-3s 
  
  Carbohydrate Servings: 0 
  
  Exchanges: 3 lean meat
  
  

I served it with brown rice and steamed asparagus with balsamic glaze. Both of those dishes had no sodium, so the total count  was the 276. 

Side Note: The brown rice without salt or butter or being cooked in broth (as I often do) was really bland and boring, so we'll play with that a little more. I did find a no salt added broth so perhaps we'll try that next time. If anyone has a great flavor, low-sodium rice recipe, please share. I do like cilantro, lime and garlic mixed into my rice, but that only goes with certain dishes. I guess I'll have to play with it. 

One of the biggest lessons we are learning is to check every label, because not only are we surprised by what ingredients have a lot of sodium, we have also been pleasantly surprised by the ones that are very low or even 0. Those are the things we will focus on having on hand to perk up things that seem a bit more boring. 

Overall, this one is a keeper!

November 4th is National Candy Day

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.
— Judith Olney, author of The Joy of Chocolate

Raise your hands, who has a sugar hangover from Halloween? So, now that we’ve eaten all the candy we can in the last 3 days, what do we do with the rest? I’ve always subscribed to the “eat as much as you can the first couple of days, then get it out of site” theory. To get it out of sight, I usually put the hard candy in a baggie under the passenger seat, for something to pull out on long rides. For the chocolates, I freeze them and we pack them when we go skiing or to the beach or on hikes or picnics throughout the year.

Today is National Candy Day, so I thought I'd share some ideas:

A few years ago my friend, Jeanine, and her daughters gave me a brilliant idea! Bake with it!! Where you would ordinarily put chocolate chips or nuts or raisins, put crushed Halloween candy. The crushing is easiest if you freeze it first, then you only need a few whacks with a meat mallet or a rolling pin. You can put M&Ms or crushed Snickers in brownies or crushed Milky Way in oatmeal cookies. Or, try this version of chocolate chip cookies, just use your favorite Halloween candy in lieu of chips.

Halloween candy cookies
Makes about 3 dozen

2¼ c flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
¾ c sugar
¾ c brown sugar
1 c butter (2 sticks)
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
3 c crushed Halloween candy

Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in crushed candy. Drop by large, rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.