The Basics: Salt of the Earth

left to right: kosher salt, sea salt, table salt (maldon not pictured)

Oh salt, how I love you. People (aka my family) have given me a lot of grief throughout my life for my salt consumption. I literally put salt on and in anything. Luckily recent studies (which I believe to be true) show that reasonable salt intake may have little to no negative consequences. YES! I think salt makes everything better. Not all salts were created equal. Given that most recipes call for salt, I recommend adding these options to your next shopping list so you have them on hand:

Kosher Salt - Morton's Kosher Salt (Coarse) - A great basic salt for cooking and seasoning. I use this all the time.

Sea Salt - Maldon's Sea Salt - Fancy pants salt, but really delicious and pretty (can a salt be pretty?) I like this to finish food. Find this at Sur La Table or Williams-Sonoma.

Table Salt - Morton's Table Salt - Buy it anywhere, I swear, even a gas station. Don't look down your nose at this super staple, use it for baking vs cooking.

Gour-maybe lesson - Kosher and sea salts have much larger granules that are difficult to distribute well in baked goods. Have you ever tried to sift a bunch of dry ingredients with kosher/sea salt? I have, and it and ended up with large sea salt flakes in the sifter, and the dry ingredients in the bowl. Table salt, or dissolved sea salt often work best. Lesson learned!