My Top Ten Herbs & Spices

Since I’ve been Paleo my cooking has got more and more inventive, and I find I’m using a lot of different Herbs & Spices.

This does start out quite expensive if you don’t have any, but I really recommend going out and buying a basic selection to get started with.  Just by changing the herbs you can completely transform a meal.

When I went strict Paleo, I already had a lot of Herbs & Spices, but I went through all of my Paleo recipe books and bought all of the herbs and spices that came up in the ingredients list.  I’ve noticed I tend to use a few very frequently, and some are barely used, so thought I’d share my top ten herbs and spices, and what I use them for.

1. Onion Powder.  Although I use onions too, this is great to add to lots of dishes for extra onion flavour.
2. Garlic Powder.  I use this similarly to onion powder, to gives an almost sweet garlic taste.
3. Turmeric.  I’m trying to add this to more and more of my cooking, as it is has so many great attributes – including having anti inflammatory properties.  Turmeric gives a yellow colour and a slight bitter, mustard flavour.  I always add Turmeric to curries.
4. Cayenne Pepper.  This is a hot spicy chilli pepper, with hot being the word!  I only add a very small amount, but often add it to dishes like chilli, where I want a bit of heat.
5. Paprika.  This is from dried capsicum and quite a sweet flavour.  It gives food a red colour and I’ll use it in sauces and dips.
6. Oregano.  I seem to use a lot of this, almost anytime I cook with tomatoes, I add some oregano.  It has a slightly lemony flavour.
7. Thyme.  I often add this near the end of cooking to ensure the heat doesn’t damage it.  I add it to lots of different things such as stews, vegetable dishes and stocks.
8. Cinnamon.  This is my current favourite – I use it in almost everything.  Although it isn’t sweet, it’s great as a sweet substitute in tea and NoOatmeal.  I commonly use it in meat dishes as it gives such a great flavour.
9. Ginger.  This is another favourite which I have to regularly replenish.  I often add this to curries.
10. Salt.  This is another must have which brings out the flavour in dishes.  I naturally have quite low blood pressure, and as I don’t eat anything processed think it’s quite a good addition to my cooking.  I use Pink Himalayan salt as it is very pure with a great mineral content.  I also have Celtic Sea Salt, which also has a great mineral content.  I would go without rather than having table salt!

Are my most commonly used Herbs & Spices completely different to yours?  Which are your favourite Herbs & Spices and what do you use them for?