By Laura Slatalla, Recent ASU Nutrition Student
Experimenting with new combinations and flavors is one of the joys of cooking, but a little direction for herb and spice pairings can ramp up your dishes! Encourage your family to try foods prepared and seasoned differently, especially if they are foods that aren’t well liked in your household. It may change their mind! Make use of all those spices in your cabinets and pick up some fresh herbs from the store. Meals will have more layers of complexity and be tastier, without adding more salt, butter, or oil.
Make use of all those spices in your cabinets and pick up some fresh herbs from the store. Meals will have more layers of complexity and be tastier, too!
Garlic, lemon juice, and oil or butter are easy and tasty, but they get mundane. Here are some herb and spice pairings you can use to make your dishes pop:
Asparagus paired with tarragon or basil
Broccoli paired with oregano, basil, curry, or thyme
Carrots paired with ginger, parsley, coriander, cumin, or sage
Eggplant paired with basil, oregano, curry, rosemary, or parsley
Green Beans paired with dill, rosemary, chives, or basil
Peas paired with dill, thyme, or parsley
Potatoes paired with rosemary, sage, mint, paprika, or thyme
Spinach paired with basil, dill, chives, or nutmeg
Summer Squash paired with basil, chives, coriander, oregano, or parsley
Sweet Potatoes paired with chili, ginger, sage, or thyme
Winter Squash (acorn/pumpkin) paired with celery leaves, parsley, sage, thyme, curry, ginger, or rosemary
Let’s not forget fruit! Adding mint to fruit salad is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, but here are some more specific pairings:
Berries paired with lavender
Strawberries paired with rosemary, or sage
Mangos paired chili, or peppercorn
Peaches paired rosemary
For all kinds of delicious recipes featuring a plethora of different spices, visit the Fill Your Plate recipe section! We have main dishes, side dishes, veggie dishes, desserts, and much more!