Healthy low/no salt dishes for Thanksgiving? FIL can't have salt

[Anonymous]

We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner for extended family but FIL just had a major heart issue and can't have salt or high fat food (like butter, etc.), I don't know what to cook. It would be rude to cook regular Thanksgiving dishes but give him something different to eat, at the same time, are there healthy recipes that everyone would enjoy? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

If you normally prepare a vegetable with butter/salt, can you just pull out a serving for FIL without those ingredients? Turkey without the skin for him? A baked potato vs. mashed potatoes? He's getting the food of Thanksgiving without subjecting everyone to 1 person's specialized diet.

[Anonymous]

Cool something without salt for him. That’s the answer.

[Anonymous]

Sweet potatoes don’t need salt or butter to taste good. You can add orange or pineapple juice to make them smooth and creamy.

[Anonymous]

I say ask FIL, since he might actually prefer a different menu. Filet mignon; greens or green beans cooked with onions and garlic; fruit compote; sweet potatoes with apples, cinnamon and pecans; pears poached in wine with vanilla sauce; almost anything savory — including vegetables— topped with caramelized onions; crab stuffed mushrooms or squash; lobster tails, crab salad with avocado; salmon….

All of these could be instead of or in addition to whatever you would traditionally serve.

I’m happy to suggest more options if this is what you had in mind. One year I did Cornish hens instead of turkey, making it easier to do one without my traditional stuffing.

[Anonymous]

This vegetable side dish is healthy, easy to prepare, absolutely delicious, and a colorful and seasonal addition to Thanksgiving dinner.

https://shop.wegmans.com/recipes/4355

[Anonymous]

Can’t salt be added afterward for most foods? Let people salt their own foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can’t salt be added afterward for most foods? Let people salt their own foods.

Yes, although many turkeys get brined, the gravy then is also high in salt; most stuffing recipes, pie crust and other baked goods, and even many vegetable recipes can be pretty high in salt, especially the casseroles, and over the course of the meal, it really adds up — especially if you’re not being intentional about avoiding it.

[Anonymous]

Sweet potatoes? The sweet potato casserole I make isn't high salt or fat (but it is higher sugar). But mostly I would really question whether you need to adapt that much. Its one meal. If his issues are larger requiring a broader lifestyle change than does one meal on a special occasion really matter? If its more acute and he would have bad outcomes from one meal I would try to accommodate and hold small portions on the side for him. I would not try to cook a low salt meal for a group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can’t salt be added afterward for most foods? Let people salt their own foods.

+1. My mother cannot be convinced to cook with salt, despite unified and loud protestations from the rest of us. Just channel her and cook without salt. It's perfectly easy to salt your own food to taste.

[Anonymous]

Food without salt is gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can’t salt be added afterward for most foods? Let people salt their own foods.

Not if you want it to taste good. Seasoning and salt during cooking produces a different flavor and texture then if you salt after.

You should just make him a separate meal.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure that most people wouldn't expect the whole family to give up their holiday traditions to eat a special diet. Prepare some nice side dishes that fit his requirements (or ask MIL to do it) and move on with your regular dinner...

[Anonymous]

You can make separate potatoes, his favorite veggie and roast a separate turkey leg, thigh, or breast (all of which can be purchased separately.
Mrs dash is your friend

[Anonymous]

You can cook and divide:

Mashed potatoes: cook them, mash them, take a portion out. Season the remainder as normal. In the portion, you can add butter, milk, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder or alternatively season with one of the Mrs Dash's seasonings.
Steamed veggies, you can steam them, then separate and season. steam veggies with a touch of butter, oregano, basil, and great
Dressing, you can mix up the bread with everything but the salt, dish out a portion then salt the rest. Put the dished out portion into a smaller baking dish and adjust the seasonings if needed, then bake the two together.

And so on. It isn't that hard to cook the same dishes and take out portions before salting and then cooking together. If you don't have separate dishes, you can get foil pans of all different sizes from the supermarket when you are shopping and cook the salt-free portions in those. It also helps you identify for everyone else which portions are the salt-free ones for your FIL.