Cooking with Herbs

by Vlad and Joy Robles*

Herbs take on a different name when used in meal preparations. When cooking, we know and love them as spices or seasonings. I don’t know about you, but I can’t image fixing a single dish without some kind of herb/spice. By spice, I don’t mean “spicy” or “hot”, though that is an option. What I mean is simply enhancing the flavor of a dish by adding one or a combination of herbs/spices. That applies to a cup of hot chocolate as much as it does to meat loaf. If you are known as a great cook, you probably know what I am talking about. If you are not known for your great cooking, than we hope you find the information below of great benefit to you, and your victims. The right use of herbs/spices makes all the difference between cooking for the sake of feeding, and cooking for the sake of delighting the taste buds of those that are fortunate enough to eat of the fruit of your hands.

Because delighting folks with our meals is our goal, we discipline ourselves to incorporate different herbs into our daily meal preparations. To our surprise, we found that using herbs in our cooking also boosted the nutritional value of our meals. So, they don’t just enhance flavor, but provide a great deal of goodness to meet some of our bodies’ nutritional needs. Now that’s what I call a side-effect worth having.

Of course, everyone has their own idea of what tastes good. If you are cooking for someone, I hope your aim is to delight them, and not just feed them. To that end, we offer the following dishes and the herbs/spices we use in preparing them. We don’t use every herbs/spice listed in every dish, but at least one or more. Use your discretion, start with very small amounts, and ask your family how they liked the variation. We have found that the same dish fixed with a few different herbs/spices can take on a whole new meaning. Once a dish is over seasoned, it can hardly be salvaged, so start small. Oh, a few of the cut herbs may need to be made into powder before using in a recipe. A grinder or blender may be used for such things (it's not pleasant to chew on a clove at the meal). Bon appétit!!!

Hot Cereals

  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cinnamon sticks - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Best when used in meals with longer cooking times. Can be reused in other meals to get all remaining flavor. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.

Meat Dishes

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Mustard - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cinnamon sticks - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Best when used in meals with longer cooking times. Can be reused in other meals to get all remaining flavor. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.

Fish Dishes

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Mustard - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.

Vegetable Dishes

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.
  • Mustard - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.

Stir-Fry

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Must be ground up before used in a stir-fry.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.
  • Mustard - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.

Salads / Salad Dressing

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.

Pasta Dishes

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.
  • Mustard - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.

Desserts

  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cinnamon sticks - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Best when used in meals with longer cooking times. Can be reused in other meals to get all remaining flavor. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.
  • Licorice - Flavor enhancer

Smoothies / Shakes

  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Must be ground up before using.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.

Hot drinks

  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Must be ground up before using.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.

Soups / Stews

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cinnamon sticks - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Best when used in meals with longer cooking times. Can be reused in other meals to get all remaining flavor. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Remove before serving or set aside while eating.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.
  • Mustard - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.

Baking

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Must be ground up before using.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.
  • Mustard - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.

Pancakes / Waffles

  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Must be ground up before using.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Must be ground up before using.

Rice Dishes

  • Cayenne - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Very potent. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Turmeric - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.
  • Garlic minced - Flavor enhancer
  • Garlic powder - Flavor enhancer. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Thyme - Flavor enhancer
  • Sage - Flavor enhancer
  • Fennel - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid
  • Arrowroot - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Slippery Elm bark - Thickener and Digestive aid
  • Cinnamon powder - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. May be added to foods at the table.
  • Rosemary - Flavor enhancer
  • Cloves - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. Must be ground up before using.
  • Ginger - Flavor enhancer and Digestive aid. You may or may not want to grind it up a bit before using.
  • Mustard - Flavor enhancer. Very potent.

Great tasting Teas

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