Substitutions and Training your Taste Palette

This is what I had for lunch at Roll & Rye in Culver City, CA. I never thought of subbing potato salad with cottage cheese but it worked. I don’t know why the peach was there – added some sweetness I suppose.

Since becoming such a health food freak, I’ve learned to like a lot of weird combos. I’ve also been able to turn a “tolerance” for healthy foods into an addiction for healthy foods.

It takes a while to train your taste palette to become accustomed to missing certain foods but it is possible. Slowly begin diminishing the amount of say for instance, salt, in your meals and before you realize it, you won’t need it anymore. Same thing with becoming vegetarian. Slowly omit the meat and you won’t feel like you have to eat it.

I never put salt on my food and I stay away from indulgent sauces as much as possible. I also don’t sweeten my oatmeal anymore, a warm banana provides enough sweetness! Eating with less condiments makes me savor my food more, and with every bite I think about the subtle but intricate tastes. It’s thoughtful eating.

One of the easiest substitutions you can try is subbing salsa for ketchup. Another I recently discovered was squeezing fresh lemon juice on things like sushi instead of using soy sauce. Need butter? Try avocado.

Enjoy! What are some of your creative substitutions?