I'm big on spicing things up, not necessarily hot (but that's good too) but I do like to use lots of herbs and spices in my cooking.
I put garlic, onion and black pepper in almost everything-- fresh if I have them but I keep the dried ground kind of garlic & onion for when I run out.
Some of my favorites:
annato- love it on chicken
basil - I love fresh basil anywhere; in salads, on any food, love pesto sauce
chives - for anything; I especially love to mince garlic & onion chives to top my eggs
cilantro - great in salsas
cumin - for any kind of red meat, and in hummus
curry - another favorite for hummus, chicken, stews
dill - a must for any fish
lemon balm - I love adding a handful of leaves to my smoothies, really brightens them up; also just chop them for a lemony scent/flavor and sprinkle over any cold salads or in fruit salads. Or lemon balm sun tea is the bomb.
sage - I love sage when roasting poultry or fish or making stuffing
rosemary - one of my faves in the garden, goes with almost anything. I like to bundle it up too & make it into a sauce whisk/brush, or toss it on the coals to help smoke things on the bbq
Stevia - when I lived in FL I could grow fresh stevia, it was so great for desserts & smoothies & stuff to replace sugar
nigella seeds - for salads, slaws
oregano- anything Italian or Spanish, such as spaghetti or rice & beans
In the fall/winter when making warm food/stews/baked goods I use a lot of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, etc. while in the spring I tend to grab more for mints, basil, marjoram, parsley, etc.
I have a few favorite blends, like mccormic poultry seasoning, pumpkin pie spice (great on sweet potatoes), masala, Chinese 5-spice, or tones seasoning blends when I'm in a hurry to flavor things up.
I just like to experiment with them, if you're worried it won't come out right just take a bite or a spoonful on a plate and put a pinch of the spice on it, try it, and see how you like it before adding it to the whole dish.
OK sorry so long, I can talk about this all day lol.
Edited by: MACKENZIE1313 at: 7/5/2020 (00:01)
- Mackenzie