Spices Make or Break a Meal

It’s been a long time since my last blog post! I appreciate you staying engaged, even though my posts are not as frequent as they should be. 

This past spring and summer, I had the pleasure of providing private chef services for a major shoe and apparel brand. The food was bomb, the client and their guests were happy with the menu and the production staff kept sneaking food off the platters! One of the many questions I’m asked when I’m on assignment are what type of spices, herbs and butter/cooking sprays do I use. I figured I’d dedicate a blog to this topic. 

There are so many spices, herbs, citrus fruits, butter and cooking sprays you can use to enhance the flavor of dishes. If you’re not comfortable venturing out with the spices I’ve pictured, no problem. I’d recommend the basics, which are salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Eventually you’ll graduate to spice blends, fresh herbs and churned butters for new flavors.  

Spices: A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring, coloring, or preserving food. There are hundreds of spices and spice blends to choose from in your local markets.  

Herbs: Herbs are the leaves, flowers or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish and are packed with nutrients and antioxidants. While fresh herbs are my preference, dried herbs are just as flavorful, and you can cut the measurement in half, when using dried herbs.   

Citrus Fruits: If you want to give a meal a sweet or tart flavor, use fresh citrus juice from limes, lemons, oranges, or grapefruit. You can certainly combine citrus juices with fresh herbs too,  especially when making marinades for meats and seafood dishes. 

Butters: I have always used non-stick cooking sprays and butter when cooking. I use olive oil on occasion, however, my go-to is non-stick cooking spray. I recently came across churned butters, which are less in calories than traditional salted or unsalted butter. These churned butters have NO MSG, NON GMO, Gluten Free and NO RBST. They come is some amazing flavors that pair well with meat, seafood, and vegetables.