Eat Less Salt & Enjoy the Spice of Life

Salt is America’s favorite flavor enhancer. We all know too much sodium is bad for us, but if we changed just a few of our food behaviors, we would be eating less salt and enjoying every bite.  

Need to cut down on salt? Try something spicy instead. Research published in the journal Hypertension shows that eating spicy food may “trick” the brain into craving less salt. Click here to read more about the study. Researchers think that they have found a way to “rig” the neurobiological process in the brain: eating spicy foods seems to be tricking our brain into not wanting salty foods as much.

Flavor layering is all about pairing elements to expand and deepen the flavors in a dish with cooking techniques. At Low Salt Kitchen, we’re all into layers of flavor, from the base of your Creamy Tomato Soup to the pickled red onion you add to your Pulled Pork Lotus Leaf Buns that take the flavor to the next level.

What is flavor layering? At its root, flavor layering is something that everyone does, from the five-star restaurant chef to the person who has just one signature dish they make to impress. In simple terms, it means adding different but complementary flavors to a dish to create a dish with depth beyond its basic ingredients.

Can you guess one of my favorite layers of flavor? Spice! One of the ways I add that spice is often in the form of a Hatch Green Chile pepper. Adding a bit of spice to our food activates the same brain areas as eating salty ones — so why not reach for a Hatch Green Chile instead?

Basically, they’re the produce pride and joy of New Mexico. Hatch chiles can only be grown there, kind of like how Champagne can only come from the Champagne region in France. They’re smoky and spicy and just all around delicious. They also come in a variety of spice levels so if you’re not a hothead, but like the flavor of chiles, Hatch has got your back.

The Hatch Green Chile Store has you covered! The Hatch Chile Store has a tradition of excellence with over 1,000 acres of prime farmland in the Hatch valley and have been in the produce business for more than 100 years.

Each year my husband and I buy over 100lbs of this amazing fresh pepper from Hatch Green Chile Store and roast them ourselves. We typically buy a combination of medium and hot Big Jim peppers. The slow roasting and charring of the pepper exude an incredible smell that travels down into our neighbors’ yards. Click here to read up on how to roast (blister) your peppers. After we roast the peppers and peel off the skins, we freeze the whole pepper in small resealable freezer bag.

I am excited to announce I have partnered and teamed up with @hatchgreenchile! They are by far the best and most accessible Hatch Green Chile pepper on the market! Adding roasted green chile to our recipes year-round has been a game changer. Being on a low sodium diet isn’t easy, and with the help of The Hatch Green Chile Store we have been able to add just the right layers of flavor to our dishes.

@hatchgreenchile and @lowsaltkitchen will be offering an exclusive ongoing promo code to use when you shop on the Hatch Green Chile Store website and receive 15% off every time you order, use promo code: LOWSALTKITCHEN

They have so many products to offer including fresh green chile, roasted whole and chopped peppers, no sodium green and red chile powders, along with a delicious Aztec Pueblo Salsa that contains 20mg per serving. Eat less Salt & Enjoy the Spice of Life