Nothing is more essential to making food taste good than salt. Weadd salt throughout the cooking and baking processto enliven and wake up the flavors of everything it touches. Food would be awfully bland without it. And yet, adding salt doesn't always have to mean throwing another pinch of kosher salt in the pot—there are some ingredients that contain high-enough levels of sodium that they can provide seasoning in and of themselves.
I'm not talking about soy sauce orliquid aminoshere: I'm talking about foods you probably already have in your fridge or pantry that can be tossed into a dish not only to provide that extra bit of salt that was missing, but also to add another layer of flavor.
Looking at another boring bland salad? Add feta. The salt and tang of that crumbly, pungent cheese will liven everything up instantly. But you don't have to stick with feta—any other crumbly salty cheese will work, like cotija or blue cheese. Salad's not the only type of dish that will benefit from this trick—try tossing feta and similar cheeses with pasta, cooked grains, and sautéed veggies.
Same cheesy story, different cast of characters. Hard aged cheeses like Parmesan or Pecorino pack a nice salty punch, but unlike feta and friends, they're best finely grated and mixed into sauces or breadcrumbs to add umami depth and savory flavor. Pasta too bland? You know the trick: shred a lot of fresh Parm on top and suddenly it tastes amazing. Same goes for basically anything you're cooking for dinner, from breaded chicken cutlets or steamed broccoli to a bowl of hearty bean soup.
When I think"briny", capers and olives are always the first things that come to mind. Both feature a saltiness that is distinctly oceanic. Brined capers (as opposed to salt-cured capers) also carry a good amount of tang, thanks to the vinegar in their brine, which heightens the flavor impact. Add finely chopped capers to dressings and creamy sauces to add salt and flavor, or toss them whole intopan saucesas in classicchicken piccata. You canfry themfor an addictively crunchy salty topping or simply sprinkle them on top of your dinner whole.
The level of salt in olives runs a wide gamut, from mildly salty fresh green castelvetrano olives to deeply salty oil-cured black olives, which gives you lots of options. Dice them up and stir them into sauces, or slice and add to salads or pastas. Or just toss a handful of whole olives into braises and roasts for bursts of salty brightness.
A little jar of oil-packed anchovy filets or a tube of anchovy purée should always live in your fridge; reach for it often to add salt and umami whenever it's needed (and no,it won't make your food taste fishy). Add salt and flavor tobutterwith diced or puréed anchovies, and then serve on top of steaks. Salad dressings and pasta sauces are classic places to sneak in anchovy for extra flavor and salt, but they're also great in just about anyroast.
Any cured meat—yes, bacon, but also pancetta, prosciutto, salami, and more—contains enough salt to season your dinner. Start a soup, sauce, or braise by frying up a bit of cured meat until its fat is rendered, and then cook the other ingredients in that salty fat. Those fried, salty pieces of bacon or pancetta can be saved to garnish your dish before serving, or can be incorporated into the dish as you cook.
