Fresh lemon, lime or orange peel (good on chicken or mild fish but it makes even plain yogurt seem kinda fancy). I go through a lot of lemons and limes for my water, so I figure I might as well not let the peel go to waste.
Yes, fresh herbs in general are a nice change from dried, I have a couple of basil, rosemary, mint and parsley plants on the balcony. And you can stick a couple of leaves or even flowers on the side of a plate or in a lunchbox to make it look more Martha-Stewartish. If you don't have practice growing them, buy a couple in small pots from the nursery, replant them all together in a bigger pot, give them lots of sun (that is, put them outdoors). Don't worry if you kill 'em a couple of times, we've all done it. Just go get another 2" pot and stick it place of the last one.
A squeeze of lemon (REAL! not the bottle), a few drops of olive oil, salt and pepper are traditional on lots of Greek salads and dips and vegetables. There is a popular shredded cabbage-carrot salad where that is the only dressing, that I eat a lot as a side, or put as a filler in wraps. Also on beet and other greens. The next Greek accessories are always dried oregano and some olives, and then you have a whole meal. Works well for all kinds of grilled meat and vegetables.
I like sun-dried tomato in a lot of things too. You can add it to spreads on crackers, last week I snipped some up very fine with scissors and put it in deviled eggs.
Fresh cilantro, soy sauce, ginger, and a couple drops of sesame oil to make things "Asian", esp leaf/cabbage salads. I put hoisin sauce on a lot of things too. Like, on everything, if I had a spouse he would probably have strangled me by now. Really good with steamed broccoli. I have it in a ketchup squeeze bottle so it's easier to dispense and control amounts (though it's not TOO bad calorie-wise: like ketchup).
My grocery store has just started stocking "Naked Chef" spice mixes which come in a grinder jar. There's a spicy Asian one with pepper, Asian chilis, and ginger I've been using a lot.
I bought some fancy oils last month when I was at home in the US (like walnut oil and "truffle" oil -- I know it's not really squeezed from truffles but wanted to try it). They were really cheap at Marshalls but haven't had a chance to use them yet.
Also got some Chinese five-spice powder I'm eager to try, and stocked up on the chipotle and ancho chili powder. Although there was a particular recipe I wanted the five-spice powder for and now I've forgotten.
I have a friend whose husband does all the cooking, and goes through lots of phases, and apparently he is currently on a "liquid smoke" kick. Hee hee. I brought her a "curries and Persian spices" starter pack from the Gulf to see if we can jolt him out of it. I hope she got the preserved lemons through customs successfully.
Last edited by bronzeager; 08-25-2010 at 07:27 AM.
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