Food of the week: Spice!
 

It's great to use some hot spices in our food to add some depth and flavour! What spicey foods do you love?
How many calories are they?
How do you cool the spice? (and you can't say ice cream! :nono: ;)

I love tabasco sauce. I just have to watch the sodium with it!

I also love jambalaya with chicken and peppers and onions - one of my favourite meals.

I love tabasco sauce too :) I rarely buy it though.

I add cayenne pepper to almost everything I make. I also use hot indian spice. Both of them have negligible calories if any.

I eat various salsas which usually have about 10 calories per tbsp. I also eat marinated jalapenos and carrots which have some calories but not much.

Umm yeah I love spice :)

Since I am trying to watch my sodium and I eat lots of stir frys I have discovered Ginger. Very tasty and no sodium.

I also use lots of fresh onions and fresh garlic, very, very tasty.

I use lots of pepper and parsley flakes, onion powder, mustard powder. I really like using chicken consomme', but I have been trying to cut back on that, due to the sodium content.

Since I'm Indian, our food is basically dependent on spices. Red chili powder, garlic and ginger pastes, pretty much any spice you can imagine.

Unfortunately, a lot of what's made at home is pretty fattening (rice is a staple at every meal) so I'm cutting back on a lot of the food. *Sigh*

I love ginger dressing. How would you add it to foods? What would you add it to?

dawn - have you tried brown or whole grain rice? Even white rice isn't horrible if you don't eat a lot of it.

jennylou, I've never tried brown rice. And you're right, having white rice in moderation would be good. Except I LOVE rice, having grown up on it. For me it's a trigger to binging so I'm avoiding it for a while, hoping to gain control of my love for rice. Lol. But thanks for the suggestion. :)

Dawn,
They even make brown basmati rice. You should try it. It is my favorite.

Oh yeah to continue on spices...
Tumeric, ginger, cloves, basil, pepper, dill, lemon peel, spicy paprika are other favorites of mine.

I LOVE spices! I go down to the health food store here in our town to buy them - just a little at a time so they're fresh! I bought one of the little tool cabinets with 30 drawers that I keep the little baggies of spices in. (with the name of the spice on the front of each drawer)

I too love all kinds of spices! Hot ones, like various kinds of peppers (black, white, cayenne, chili, green corns, long, cubebs, grains-of-paradise), wasabi, & turmeric, don't need cooling down, since I'm going for the appetite suppressant effect. I noticed it even before reading about it - try yourself!

I find that lots of aromatic herbs round out the heat, making them more palatable. I go to some asian shops, and occasionally an Italian specialty place, for the more unusual spices, but most are now carried at our Superstore, especially in the ethnic section. If something smells nice, but I don't know what it is, I just ask someone else in the aisle who looks like they may want to chat. I've gotten some wonderful advice! Just try it!

For Pookie: Turmeric has lately been added to the list of foods that statistically show an edge toward promoting longevity, beside (moderate use of) red wine, olive oil, brassica vegs, tomato cooked with oil, and certain other superfoods. It's common in Indian cooking, and is one of the signature flavours of curry, but it can be hidden in western recipes too. Wherever you use pepper and want a richer, rounded flavour, replace pepper with 2-3 times the turmeric. Either add in other curry spices, or lots of Italian-style (bay, basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram, savoury, etc.). Paprika, garlic, onion powder will also keep the flavour more Western. Roasts, stews, soups, sautes, steamed rice are all great ways to sneak more of it into your family's meal plans.

Fresh ginger sliced, along with soy sauce, turn barely-cooked veggies into stir-fry. (Having a very hot wok helps too!;)) Smidgeons of fresh ginger can spruce up a fruit salad, or give extra bite to freshly-squeezed juices for the family. If you find some dried up in the fridge, all is not lost; mince fine or pulverize. Along with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and a little clove, it's great in eggnog, chai tea, custard, rice pudding, or anything Christmas! And then there's candied ginger...ooh mama!:dizzy: Not everybody is a fan, but, like dark chocolate, you owe it to yourself to find out!