Tag Archives: cumin

Spice Up Your Life! A Basic Guide to Herbs and Spices

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Is your food bland? When eating on a budget, it can be easy to fall into a rut of the “same old, same old.”

If this is true for you, consider adding more spices and herbs to your meals. While a collection of spices takes time to build, in part due to the cost, I have compiled a list of my favorites to get you started. You won’t be sorry.

  • Basil: sweet yet peppery and a staple of French and Italian Cuisine. Add it to soups, poultry, fish, sauces, tomatoes, potatoes, and dressings. Get it fresh or dried.
  • Black Pepper: a staple in many American kitchens, black pepper adds a great kick to a dish without a lot of heat or intense spiciness.
  • Oregano: common in French, Italian, and Greek dishes, oregano has a strong flavor that goes great with tomato-based dishes, as well as cheese, eggplant, poultry, seafood, eggs, bread, casseroles, pasta, and salad. Get it fresh or dried.
  • Rosemary: Like oregano and basil, rosemary is commonly used in French and Italian food, and has a sweet flavor. Use it in meat mariandes, on poultry, seafood, and in soups and dressings. Get it fresh or dried.
  • Parsley: this herb is a staple of French cuisine, commonly paired with garlic, and goes great on eggs, poultry, seafood, in soups, casseroles, and on cheese, eggs, and potatoes. Get it fresh or dried.
  • Cilantro: cilantro is used throughout the world to add a fresh flavor to eggs, soup, sauces, poultry, fish, potatoes, tomatoes, and seafood. It goes great with lemon or lime. Get it fresh.
  • Chili Peppers: available in many varieties, including cayenne, chili peppers add a kick to any meat, poultry, seafood, soups, hearty stew, or bean dishes. Try different varieties out if you enjoy spicy food.
  • Dill: dill weed is a mellow yet bright seasoning that is great with seafood, poultry, and light, creamy sauces.
  • Cinnamon: a warm, sweet spice that can be added to desserts, beverages, stews, apples, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach, among other things.
  • Cardamom: cardamom can be added to both sweet or savory dishes depending on the variety you choose. It is commonly used in the Mediterranean.
  • Cumin: this spice is used all around the world and is great with seafood, poultry, long-simmering dishes, stews, lentils, tomatoes, and dressings.
  • Coriander Powder: a warm, sweet spice, coriander can be used in sweet and savory dishes, including meat, poultry, seafood, and desserts.
  • Curry Powder: a mix of spices that often includes coriander, turmeric, cumin, red pepper, and fenugreek). Curry powder differs from the general term “curry” often used to characterize a variety of dishes from around the world.
  • Bay Leaves: bay leaves are savory and potent. They add flavor to meat marinades, poultry, stews, soups, and sauces. You will only need to add one or two to a dish.
  • Old Bay Seasoning: Ok, I admit it. I grew up in the Southeastern United States, where Old Bay is loved and commonly used on seafood dishes and in seafood sauces. It also goes nicely on corn and potatoes. It is a mixture of mustard, paprika, celery salt, bay leaf, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, mace, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, and ginger.
  • Garlic: this strong, savory seasoning adds flavor to most any egg, poultry, meat, seafood, stew, soup, sauce or dressing.
  • Onion: they are the best. Why? I dedicated a whole blog post to them here to explain why.
  • Ginger: sweet, and spicy. Ginger can be added to desserts, beverages, sweet breads, soups, stews, rice, poultry, meat, sauces, and other things. It is dirt cheap, too. Find it in the produce section.
  • Mint: if you’re not familiar with mint, well, there’s just no hope for you. (I kid.) Mint is sweet, fresh, and adds a great kick to beverages, desserts, and many savory dishes.
  • Nutmeg: like cinnamon, nutmeg is a warm, sweet spice used in beverages, desserts, as well as meat dishes, stews, and sauces.
  • Mustard Seed: add a tangy flavor to salads, stews, poultry, and Mediterranean and Indian dishes using mustard seed.
  • Tarragon: a favorite of French cooks, tarragon is great with meat, poultry, and eggs.

So there you have it! Take your boring food and turn it into something delicious with these and other herbs and spices. I suggest building your collection up over time.

In addition to my list, I am providing a few resources that give awesome explanations for uses of different spices and herbs.

I tried to find a few sources that organized everything by geography, but I was obviously unable to provide a fair and broad offering of such content seeing as there are so many different cuisines throughout the world. If you don’t see your favorite spices or cuisine, tell us about it in the comments.