Low-Sodium (LS) / Low Cholesterol (LC) Deluxe Chile

[gwpercle]

For those who like/need LS/LC recipes this Chile is pretty darn good .
Serves 6-8

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Lbs. Ground Turkey , we used ground white meat turkey for LC
6 - cloves peeled and chopped fresh garlic (or number of cloves to your taste)
1 - large sweet yellow onion, chopped .
1- 15 oz. can No Salt Tomato Sauce
1 - 32 oz. box Unsalted Chicken Broth
4 - Tablespoons Dry Roux (Kary's Dark Dry Roux in a jar for LC) dry roux has no oil .

3 - Tablespoons Chili Powder ( Bolner's Fiesta Brand )start with 3 Tab. and add more at the end if needed - to taste . With the Ground White Meat Turkey 3 Tablespoons was just right
1- teaspoon ground Comino ( AKA ground Cumin... same thing )
2 - teaspoons Tony Chachere's NO SALT Seasoning Blend(note - this has NO salt or salt substitutes or MSG in it )
1/2 - teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
water as needed for thickness
4 - Tablespoons Corn Flour : Optional - you can thicken the chili with a slurry of corn flour mixed with warm water and stirred into the chile , while simmering ... my family likes the corn flour flavor in the chili.

Slowly cook the ground turkey , garlic and onion in the olive oil on medium high heat . When the turkey is no longer pink and the onion is getting transparent , Add the dry roux to the cooked meat , onions & garlic and blend well . Add the Tomato Sauce and Chicken broth. Mix well
Season with chili powder , ground Comino , Tony's No Salt Seasoning , onion powder and garlic powder ( to make up for the no salt ...go heavy on the other spices to make up for it , you don't want bland chili so kick it up a notch .

Now take a taste and see if more spice is needed and adjust spices to taste .
I usually add more Comino , Tony's , onion and garlic powder .
When it suites your tastes , you can now add the corn flour and water slurry thickner . Stir it in and put on a low simmer , covered , stir often and add water if too thick ....simmer at least 45 minutes , 1 hour is better and a little longer wont hurt .

I'm not going to start that bean or no bean thing ... you do what you want .
I have made chili both with and without and I go both ways ... it's all good .

I have a few more "Heart Healthy" recipes if anyone is interested , Chicken & Yellow Rice, Chicken & Shrimp Jambalaya , Shrimp Creole , Shrimp and Yellow Rice .

I'm not on a restricted diet but my youngest son now is ... recovering from open heart surgery and doctor told him low sodium is now the rule ... Mom and Dad are helping him learn how to cook LS/LC ... it's not too bad and not too hard to find no and low sodium products so that makes adapting recipe's much easier .

If interested in Kary's Dry Roux www.karysroux.com
Gary

[gbrown]

Yeah, low sodium is the way to go, IMHO. I have no dietary restrictions, either. About age 35, SWMBO and I decided to reduce our sodium intake. Took the salt off the table, and stopped adding salt to our cooking. Never noticed a real difference. Most canned are loaded with salt. I do make and eat sauerkraut, but that's the exception to the rule, and not but occasionally.
BTW, your recipe looks a lot like mine. My taco/Chili mix is 3 tbsp chili powder, 1tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp onion powder and a tsp of ground cumin. I also add a tbsp or 2 of Masa Harina.

[Lloyd Smale]

replace that turkey with some good lean venison and you might have something.

[GregLaROCHE]

There’s a lot of new research about salt. I was always a minimal user of salt. Today many researchers, say it’s not as unhealthy as was previously thought. It is no longer thought to create hardening of your arteries. In fact we need to get enough salt. The best thing is to listen to your body and if you feel like eating something salty, add salt, if not don’t add it. Excess salt is eliminated by urine.

[gwpercle]

There’s a lot of new research about salt. I was always a minimal user of salt. Today many researchers, say it’s not as unhealthy as was previously thought. It is no longer thought to create hardening of your arteries. In fact we need to get enough salt. The best thing is to listen to your body and if you feel like eating something salty, add salt, if not don’t add it. Excess salt is eliminated by urine.

I was sent to the hospital for a couple days... Too Low a Sodium Level ! When that happens it distorts your thinking and caused me to be depressed ... I'm not the depression type , my glass is always half full . A medicine I had been taking long term (30+ years) had something in it that kept my body from taking in the Sodium ... I was passing it out in my urine ... a change in that medicine and some salty snacks ... got everything squared away .
I kept the hospital discharge instructions because they said to Consume Salty Foods !!!
The doctor told me I had the lowest Sodium Level he had ever seen in a living person and that the body can't function without salt .
You can overdue the No Salt thing !
Gary

[Walks]

Never been a big salt user myself.

Only 3 things really; eggs, steak and My Wife's Tuna Noodle Casserole.
Although lately she been adding "Mrs Dash" to the Tuna, doesn't seem to need salt anymore.

Will try that Chili recipe. Been using a Lot of ground turkey in our southwest dishes.

[GregLaROCHE]

I never considered myself a heavy salt user, but my blood tests always came back at the top of the maximum limit, so I tried to reduce my use of it. When I found out that salt is now not considered as bad for you as once thought, I started using as much salt as I wanted, whenever I wanted. My blood tests now say my sodium is down to the middle of the safe level. Figure that. Maybe they changed the scale. Who knows? I haven’t looked that much into it.

[gwpercle]

I never considered myself a heavy salt user, but my blood tests always came back at the top of the maximum limit, so I tried to reduce my use of it. When I found out that salt is now not considered as bad for you as once thought, I started using as much salt as I wanted, whenever I wanted. My blood tests now say my sodium is down to the middle of the safe level. Figure that. Maybe they changed the scale. Who knows? I haven’t looked that much into it.

Remember the "Egg" study and the "Butter" study ... turns out the first conclusions were either wrong or misleading .

I now take all those "Test" numbers and "Study Results" with (pardon the bad pun)
a large grain of Salt !

Some canned and some frozen foods ( Frozen Shrimp) have a surprising amount of salt/sodium in it .
Who would think frozen shrimp had sodium added . Most Tuna has added sodium . Canned tomato products , beans ... you get a surprising amount of salt in food and you don't know it unless you read the label .
Thank goodness a lot of No Salt and Low Salt products are being marketed ... it really helps in cooking when you have to go on salt restricted diet .
My son is on a low restriction and must count every mg. he consumes .
Gary

[Lloyd Smale]

If eating vegetables, low fat low sodium vegan crap means me living till 85 instead of 80 ill live till 80 enjoying supper. If God calls me up before then well i guess ive been living on borrowed time since my 20s anyway. I eat what i want. What tastes good. I dont pig out on it and i exercise daily. Im in better shape then alot of people 20 years younger then me. All on meat and potatoes and pasta WITH salt. I havent ate 3 salads in my whole life other then pasta salads or taco salad. Ill let the things i eat eat veggys.