These are a couple tips I've learned that I thought I'd pass on:

- Chef Ming Tsai uses a combination of lemon juice and salt as a substitute for soy sauce for his son who has food allergies.

- A standard vegan substitute for Parmesan cheese is:
1 cup Brazil nuts
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/3 teaspoon salt
Process the three ingredients in a food processor till fluffy.

So what are some substitutes that you've learned?

I use ground almonds as a filler in meatloaf, and as a "flour" in baking.

Otherwise, I'm not a big fan of "substitutes".

Thai fish sauce is a great substitute for soy sauce.

Thai fish sauce is a clear brown color - do not get the cloudy stuff (blech).

Chef Ming... *swoon* He's such a domestic, studly God. How'd you like to wake up to that hunk of gorgeous Asian cooking you breakfast? (Can you tell I have a thing for Ming?) He's getting a little bit thicker and heavier as he ages but he's still my delicious Pork Dumpling, at least in my fantasies. I'll never forget the first time I saw him on TV years ago, I couldn't believe such a handsome man was also a chef. It was then I knew that all must be right in the universe.

Your libido seems to be strangely attached to food, Nancy.

I can't help it that so many chefs are stud muffins too! Him and AB... that one on Hell's Kitchen is kind of cute too.

If men knew how attractive they are to women when they're cooking great food, they'd all be learning to cook!

LOL Nancy! I had to google Chef Ming out of curiosity. Well, he is cute!

Is that the guy who does Simply Ming? I love that show! (though I wouldn't have noticed whether he was cute)

Soy sauce and parmesan cheese both get their flavor (umami) from fermentation. Some folks use nutritional yeast instead, which also has a strong umami flavor. I prefer fish sauce and a wide variety of other fermented goodies. Broth also has a good deal of umami - in fact umami is sometimes translated as "brothiness." Never cook with water when you can use broth instead!

If you're against fermented food, then salt is probably the best alternative. Lemon juice provides the acidity that also goes along with fermented food.

Yup, that's him! I use fish sauce for umami too, and wheat free tamari. Watch out for brewers yeast, it is usually grown on malt from barley.

I have a thing for him too. I get weak at the knees and a little light-headed. Instead of having him cook breakfast, though, I can think of other ....

But Salt isn't Paleo :S

He's mine! I saw him first! Maybe?

Salt isn't Paleo? Heck, even elephants "mine" their own salt.

Yeah, a "salt lick" is a natural formation as well as a farm fixture, isn't it? Lots of animals go looking for salt - is it believed that humans didn't?

My sense is that salt is no less Paleo than cooking. Salt and cooking go well together, for good reasons. And it's certainly closer to Paleo than soy sauce!

However, if you dig up roots from the ground and eat them unwashed, you can probably get your sodium that way.

How about sundried tomatoes? Someone on another forum suggested them for dairy-free pizza; they're chewy and have an intense savory flavor (also umami).