Playing With Spices

I love cooking with new herbs and spices.I also have found that the cheapest place to buy them is at some health food stores. I like turmeric and ginger. I like to use them with chicken and or rice. Ginger with honey is good in carrots too. I also like to add basil to mashed potatoes. It's fun ti learn how to cook with new herbs and spices. You can do so much with them to add flavor and they can add some health to your cooking. Did you know that turmeric is good for inflammation? Ginger is supposed to help lower high cholesterol.

hi alaskanray I love herbs and spices too. When we make a salad you will barely see the ingredients cause there is a loooot of parsley and dill in it, LOL. I also love really spicy stuff like cayenne powder, really hot curry powder and the like. The best are these chili pepper flakes they are piping hot and are excellent in stews of all kinds.

I have done this too!! Spices are so expensive, that I often try to substitute for things I dont want to buy for just 1 recipe! The end of last week was so hot here, that I wanted to make something that I could eat cold. I looked through the cupboard to see what I already had - not much because I have been trying to eat up everything I already have!! I did have a box of pasta, so I decided to make a pasta salad. I cooked the pasta, cut up some peppers and onions and mixed it all together. I added a little bit of olive oil, then the problem was picking out what seasonings to use! I ended up just using a little bit of parsley and some Italian seasonings. I was a little worried that I wouldnt like it and it would go to waste, but it turned out pretty good!! The best part was I already had all of the ingredients and didnt have to spend any money to make it! I definitely want to experiment with more of my spices now. I am getting so tired of always eating the same things!! Glad your pasta salad turned out well too!!!

lol our food are always rich in spices, one can buy ready made, i mean different ingredients mixed and grinded in sealed packets, but my wife never go for those, they are adultered generally we buy turmeric, red chilly, cuminseeds, cardamom etc, dry them in shade, than add them in a definite proportion, grind them using our grinder at home, the flavor is retained, 2 spoonful is enough.. Thanks for sharing Best of luck. Professor

I love cooking so much and I am the type of person who loves to experiment on the spices available at my kitchen. I agree not all of the ingredients in the recipe are available especially if we really want to cook a particular dish. Thanks for sharing this turmeric spice here in mylot. I would love to try it one of this days.

hi, turmeric is used mainly for Asian rice dishes, or if you want to add natural spice color to your cooking, it's what we Filipinos call " dilaw" or yellow because it is exactly what it is yellow ginger. If you like or have tasted Java rice, then that's what gives the distinct color ( so delicious with bar-b-q and sate babi sauce). Turmeric also has so many health benefits http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/20-health-benefits-of-turmeric.html I also have an impulse when it comes to buying spices, I sort of smell it and imagine where I plan to use it , buy buy and put it in the spice cabinet.

I will have to check the local health food stores next time I need some spices I guess. I have never used Turmeric as far as I remember. I don't get too adventurous with spices normally.

Hi alaskanray, I use turmeric in almost all the dishes upto 2 to 3 pinches. And in non-veg I use upto 1table spoon. I hear from my grandmother as it is good for health. I want to try new dishes with mustard powder, but my family members doesn't like mustard. Experimenting a new dish lets us learn 2 things, either the combination is good and can be enjoyed next time or the combination is bad and never to cook it again. Really cooking and experimenting on spices is fun.