My 4-year old son actually asked for cinnamon to put in his yogurt today.   It’s the small things in life that make me happy.  The fact that I know cinnamon is one of the highest ranking spices when it comes to antioxidants – you know, those compounds in food that keep your cells from damage, gives me a boost of extra confidence.  My motherly work is not for naught as I systematically dash herbs and spices wherever I can into my family’s food.  A little dash goes a long way (with vitually zero extra calories, too) – a half to one teaspoon is all you need to get the antioxidant benefits. Unbenownst to my kids and husband, I wave my spice spoon over oatmeal, soup, meatloaf, salad dressing, applesauce, pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, roasted veggies, hummus, and macaroni and cheese. 

Per a question from one of my cooking class attendees, “What are the best spices to use in your cooking?”  Here are my top three:

1 – Cinnamon – it’s versatile for savory and sweet foods, like roasted squash, sweet potatoes and string beans or oatmeal, yogurt, coffee and even pb & j sandwiches – great on toast!

2 -  Curry powder – this is a cannot-live-without spice in my house.  It’s delish in brown rice, couscous, egg and chicken salad, corn, mashed potatoes, and roasted eggplant.

3 -  Oregano - yes, it’s green, but my toddlers don’t mind it sprinkled into tomato sauce, homemade pizza, chili, soups and cheesy scrambled eggs. 

So, especially this month, revolutionize your cooking and your family’s taste buds with spices.  And pretty soon your kids will be asking for them, too.

Drop me a line with your spice faves.  I’d love to know….

-VSR

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Culinary, Eating behaviors, Food & Nutrition, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.