Low Sodium Convenience Foods

Processed foods tend to be high in salt. Not just microwave meals, but anything that has been processed at all, even sausages and baked beans. Some "healthy" options which are low in saturated fat are high in sodium, and even some desserts. Since we started on this low sodium thing, I've been cooking from scratch every night, but with a full time job, two kids, packed lunches to do and (occasionally) a social life as well I simply can't do that every night for ever.

So I've been looking for low salt "convenience"/processed food options, for those occasions when a nice sit down and a glass of wine appeals more than spending an hour cooking. This isn't going to be a very long list, but I hope it will be a useful one, and I will add to it when I discover more.

1. Frozen fish things - I have found a few low and low-ish sodium options in this section of the supermarket freezers, for example Birds Eye Fish Finger Megas.

2. Emmental - this has become the "everyday" cheese in our house. It's the lowest sodium cheese I can find of the sort that works melted on toast, or in an omlette.

3. John West tuna pate - only 0.1g sodium per 100g (about a third of that in tinned tuna), and gives you a portion of oily fish too.

4. M&S Teacakes - (the fruity bread, not the chocolate marshmallow things) are lovely toasted for breakfast

Pan-fried Herring

We eat lots of fish, so this will be the first in a series. It's a quick midweek meal, and is oily fish too, so we'll be getting our omega-3. A "desalinated" Gordon Ramsay recipe.

Serves 4

600g new potatoes, scrubbed
Squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 tsp mustard, made from mustard powder
5 tbsp crème fraîche
1 1/2 tbsp horseradish
2 spring onions, finely sliced
Handful of chives, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
4 herring fillets, pin-boned

1 Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and cool slightly.

2 Mix the lemon juice with the mustard, crème fraîche and horseradish; season with pepper.

3 Slice the potatoes thickly and return to the pan. Mix with the dressing, spring onions and chives. Cover and keep warm.

4 Heat a nonstick frying pan with a little oil. Pat the fish dry, season, then fry, skin-side down, for 2-3 minutes to crisp. Cook the other side for 30 seconds.

5 Pile the warm potato salad on to plates and top with the fish.