7 Things: My 7 Favorite Spices

Six posts (including this one) left to do by Saturday and I’ll be all caught up with my 7 Things.

Easy peasy.

To jump-start that process, here are my prosaic musings on my seven favorite spices. (Yes, spices. Give me a break. I’m trying to catch up here.)

7 – Allspice

Why I Love It: When used well, allspice adds a whole lotta tasty to simple recipes.

What I Use It In: Spice cupcakes occasionally, but mainly in my own special banana Cream of Wheat recipe (it’s like a mostly healthy breakfast dessert).

6 – Ancho Chili Powder

Why I Love It: It doesn’t just taste hot, as chili powders are apt to do. It has a rather splendid flavor.

What I Use It In: Soups, salads, chili. Even fruit salsa gets a shake.

5 – Cinnamon

Why I Love It: Aside from the fact that it’s totally yummy? It’s totally good for you. It helps with both blood sugar, which is good for everybody, and with inflammation, which is good for everybody, but especially my body.

What I Use It In: The usual – hot cereals and such – but also in soups and one very special version of chili that’s a near perfect rip-off of Skyline. Mmm.

4 – Sage

Why I Love It: It tastes decent enough and doesn’t overpower a dish, which is nice, but mainly it’s about the stress-relief. I don’t know if it works for reducing stress, but it’s believed to. Even if it doesn’t, I’m not too proud to enjoy the placebo-like psychological effects.

What I Use It In: Pretty much everything. All soups, all salads, all sandwiches, all wraps. The flavor is so mild, you can get away with it.

3 – Paprika

Why I Love It: It tastes so damn good.

What I Use It In: It’s kind of a second sage. I paprika up pretty much anything and everything.

2 – Basil

Why I Love It: Because of it’s unreal lightly-sweet yumminess.

What I Use It In: Pesto, of course, but also soups, oven tuna, dipping oil, fish tacos. And I make a wicked tomato basil pasta.

1 – Ginger

Why I Love It: It combines the high-level deliciousness of basil and paprika with the healthy kick of cinnamon and sage.

What I Use It In: A lot. Hot cereals, yogurt, baked goods, soups, wraps, even a few salads. Crystallized ginger is my go-to for stomach upset and, on occasion, when my body tries to give into allergies, a piece of raw ginger stops that nonsense in a hurry.

And, for the record, one far-too-commonly-used spice that I hate:

Rosemary

Blech.

And one that I learned the hard way must be used in extreme moderation:

Kelp powder

Double-blech.