⇒ 10 best dishes with a variety of herbs, spices, and other flavorful ingredients
Pin these Flavor-Boosting Recipes
You could wish to learn how to make taco seasoning, Greek seasoning, or Chinese five-spice powder. You can try a variety of herb and spice recipes from us.
Flavoring food may be enjoyable and straightforward, and it does not have to require extra calories, bad fat, added sugar, or sodium. I enjoy cooking with herbs and spices because they are a quick and easy method to add fantastic flavor to foods while keeping them healthy. Flavorful, nutritious, and delectable meals = #Winning in my book!
Cooking with Spices
- Are you seeking for methods to flavor your cuisine without using a lot of fat or salt? Instead, add flavorful spices to your meals! Spices, which are employed in a wide variety of savory and sweet foods, can reveal a lot about a culture’s cuisine.
- A pinch of spice can make even the most basic recipes taste new and fascinating. Look for recipes that include one or more of these spices, or experiment with a new spice in one of your family’s favorite dishes.
What exactly is a spice?
Spices are derived from diverse plants or trees’ bark, buds, fruit, roots, seeds, or stems. (In contrast, a herb is made from the leafy sections of plants that do not have woody stems.)
Here are some popular cooking spices found in most homes.
- Allspice tastes like a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, hence the name.
- This spice can be used in both savory and sweet dishes. It gives baked items like spiced cakes or pumpkin pastries a particular flavor.
- It is also used in pickling and is a key component of jerk seasoning. While allspice is utilized in baking in North America, it is more commonly seen in South American and Jamaican cuisine.
Anise
Anise gives meals a sweet licorice flavor. It is frequently used in Southeast Asian cookery to flavor breads, beverages such as this Hot Mulled Tea, pork, and chicken.
Cardamom
- Each herb and spice has its unique nutritional and physiological benefits, but herbs and spices in general offer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics that protect against cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.
- Some herbs and spices may also help with weight loss, memory and cognitive function, and gastrointestinal health.
- Cardamom has a powerful scent and a flavor that is warm, spicy, and sweet. It’s popular in pastries, rice meals, and sweet puddings. Because it is extremely potent, only use a small amount at a time. It’s popular in East Indian and Scandinavian cooking (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden).
Cayenne
- Cayenne pepper (sometimes known as red pepper) is a hot, spicy powder derived from tropical chilies.
- It is used in numerous cuisines, including African, Cajun, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, South American, and Southeast Asian cooking, and has over 200 variants.
- It can be used to give a little heat to a number of foods. Make this Squash Dip with it.
Five spices from China
- Chinese five spice is a potent blend of five ground spices – cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns – mixed in equal parts.
- You can make your own or locate pre-packaged mixtures in Asian markets and most grocery stores, which are commonly used in Chinese cooking.
- It is most commonly used in recipes that contain soy sauce.
- Cloves add a sweet and spicy flavor to both sweet and savory foods.
- Baked foods, smoked meats, pickles, sauces, curries, and mulled beverages all benefit from it.
- They can be served whole (and later removed from the meal) or ground.
- Cloves have a strong flavor, so use them sparingly.
- Try using cloves in Chicken Mole Sauce.
Coriander
- Coriander seeds are dried seeds that come from the same plant as cilantro, a famous herb.
- Coriander seeds have a flavor similar to lemon, sage, and caraway.
- This spice can be used in curries, soups, pickling spices, and alcoholic beverages such as mulled wine.
- It is commonly found in Indian, Mexican, Asian, and Caribbean cuisines.
Cumin
- Cumin adds a toasty, nutty flavor to meals. It is commonly used in curries, chili powders, and barbeque spice blends.
- It is most commonly seen in Middle Eastern, Asian, and Mediterranean cuisines.
- It’s delicious in this Quinoa and Lentil Pilaf.
Curry powder
- Curry powder is a powdered spice blend that varies depending on locale and recipe. Coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, mustard, fenugreek, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, chiles, and black pepper are common ingredients.
- The combination of spices provides gravy-based meals like Indian curries a hot and spicy flavor.
- It’s great as a marinade or dry rub for meat, fish, lamb, veal, and potatoes.
- It goes well with Cream of Parsnip Soup and Asparagus and Sweet Potato with Curry.
Fennel Seed
- Fennel seed imparts a sweeter, milder licorice flavor to meals.
- Fennel seeds are used in savory foods such as fish, sauces, meatballs, and sausages. It is widely used in Mediterranean cuisine.
- It is used in varieties of dishes, specially Indian dishes .
- It has number of health benefits and helps to solve all the issues related to our stomach .
- Great for people with digestion problem.
- best for the one who wish to loss weight faster.
Garam Masala
- Garam masala is a spice blend similar to curry powder, however it lacks cumin and caraway.
- The combination of spices, like curry powder, will be determined by the chef and the recipe.
- It typically includes black pepper, fennel, cinnamon, clove, and cardamom, as well as mace and nutmeg.
- It’s popular in Indian cooking because it offers a deep, rich flavor.
- It is normally added near the conclusion of the cooking process.
- Try it in Egg Bhurji, an Indian scrambled egg dish.
Ginger
- Ginger imparts a sweet and spicy flavor to a wide range of sweet and savory meals.
- Dried ginger tastes different than fresh ginger.
- Ginger is well-known for its use in baked goods such as gingerbread, spice cookies, ginger ale, and ginger beer, but it is also wonderful in savory meals such as soups and stews such as Spicy Chicken and Squash Stew, curries, Asian stir-fries, meats, and fruit compotes.
- Ginger is often used in Asian and Southeast Asian cooking.
Mace
- The crimson covering of the nutmeg seed is mace.
- It tastes and smells like a stronger nutmeg and is slightly bitterer.
- Mace is used to flavor a variety of meals such as baked goods, potatoes, cream sauces, and sausage.
- Mace is widely used in East Indian cuisine.
Nutmeg
- Nutmeg has a flavor that is warm, spicy, and sweet.
- It can be used to flavor spicy baked items, custards, eggnog, and fruits.
- It can also be combined with veggies to make savory recipes such as this Broccoli and Mushroom Quiche.
- Nutmeg, like mace, is often used in East Indian food.
Paprika
- Paprika is manufactured from dried and ground unique types of sweet orange and red peppers.
- Depending on the kind, it can range from moderate to spicy.
- Paprika complements eggs, rice, sweet potatoes, root vegetables, sauces, and roast meats and poultry.
- Paprika is often used in Spanish, South American, and Hungarian cuisine. Make it into Rutabaga Fries.
Turmeric
- Turmeric has a spicy, earthy flavor.
- It is commonly used in Indian and Caribbean dishes to provide flavor as well as color (a vivid yellow).
- Turmeric is most commonly seen in curries and pickled meals. Make a Cauliflower Lentil Rice Bake with it.
- Turmeric — and especially its most active compound, curcumin — have many scientifically proven health benefits, such as the potential to improve heart health and prevent against Alzheimer’s and cancer.
- It’s a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. It may also help improve symptoms of depression and arthritis.
Buy and store spices properly to maintain their freshness
- To get the most aroma and flavor out of spices, buy them in small quantities and use them up quickly.
- If possible, try grinding whole spices instead of buying them prepackaged to get the most flavor.
- You can grind them with a mortar and pestle or electric coffee grinder.
- Store whole and ground spices in airtight containers in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.
What is the distinction between herbs and spices?
- Herbs such as rosemary, oregano, mint, cilantro, and thyme are derived from the plant’s leaves.
- Spices are derived from the plant’s remaining parts, which include the seed (for example, sesame), root (for example, ginger), fruit (for example, paprika), berry (for example, black pepper), bud (for example, saffron), and bark (e.g. cinnamon).
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- Here are over 40 nutritious and delicious flavor-boosting recipes from my dietitian and healthy food blogger friends to get you started on using herbs and spices in the kitchen!
Breakfast
Lunch & Dinner
Sauces, Dressings, & Rubs
| Food | Seasoning |
| Beef | Bay leaf, cayenne, chili, curry, dill, ginger, mustard, paprika, marjoram, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme. |
| Pork | Allspice, basil, cardamom, cloves, curry, ginger, marjoram, mustard, oregano, paprika, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme. |
| Lamb | Basil, cardamom, curry, dill, mace, marjoram, mint, oregano, paprika, rosemary, turmeric. |
| Poultry | Allspice, anise, bay leaf, cayenne, curry, dill, ginger, marjoram, mustard, nutmeg, paprika, parsley, pepper, sage, savory, tarragon, thyme. |
| Fish | Allspice, anise, basil, bay leaf, cayenne, chives, curry, dill, fennel, ginger, marjoram, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, parsley, tarragon, thyme. |
| Fruit | Allspice, anise, cinnamon, cloves, curry, ginger, mace, mint, nutmeg, pepper. |
| Vegetables | Green Beans — Dill, marjoram, nutmeg, oregano.Beets — Allspice, nutmeg.
Broccoli — Mustard, nutmeg, sage. Carrots — Dill, nutmeg, parsley, rosemary, thyme. Cucumbers — Basil, dill, parsley. Eggplant — Oregano, parsley. Mushrooms — Garlic, sage. Peas — Marjoram, mint. Potatoes –Chives, cumin, dill, fennel, garlic, mace, rosemary, tarragon. Squash — Cardamom, ginger, nutmeg. Tomato — Allspice, basil, cloves, cumin, fennel, marjoram, oregano. |
| Rice | Chives, cumin, curry, nutmeg, parsley, saffron, turmeric |
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