need advice on seasonings spices

[uht7hu]

Hi,

I am looking for advice on what herbs would be good to add to the following dishes to improve their flavor and how much of the herbs to add.

I don't like hot spices like pepper or onions they give me stomach pains, but things like basil, thyme, sage, etc would probably be okay. Cost would be an issue so something like saffron would be too expensive. I'm interested in flavoring not appearance.

I cook these on the stove top for a few minutes. I eat about 1/4 right away and put the rest in containers in fridge to eat later - if that makes a difference (I've noticed that sometimes flavors develop over time)

If you can suggest what herbs would be good to add flavor to these dishes and how much of the herbs to add it would be very helpful....

#1: chicken, broccoli, and pasta (1 lb of chicken thighs cut into small pieces, 12 oz broccoli, 7 oz whole wheat pasta)


#2: chicken, corn, peas, carrots ( 1 lb of chicken thighs cut into small pieces, 6oz corn, 6oz peas, 9 oz carrots


#3: ground beef: (1 lb of ground beef, cooked in a sauce pan until the fat separates, I pour off some of the fat and add water and 1 cup of oatmeal.


#4: 2 fried eggs with mushrooms


Thanks

[mykitchenandyou]

There are many questions to ask before someone would be able to answer your question. You said you don't like spicy, but do you like bold flavors, mild currys? You say you don't care for peppers. Does that include bell peppers? There are a lot of other questions that would be necessary in order to give you a good answer.

I think your best bet would be to go to a website like www.penzeys.com and read up on their spices. They have a nice catalog that is quite informative. They have suggestions for what, how, and why on spices and herbs. It doesn't sound like you would be able to afford to buy from them, but I would say this. Some things are worth a little extra effort and money. Your food will ALWAYS be a sum of it's parts. That is your food will only be as good as the ingredients you use. It would be a bit of an investment at first, but remember spices and herbs are not something you are going to go out and buy on a weekly or even monthly basis. If you keep your spices in a nice cool place in airtight containers they should last you a solid 6 months MINIMUM and really much longer. Uber snobs will tell you they only last a month. Please, I've found that if you start with superb spices and herbs AND AND you store them correctly, you will be miles apart from "store bought" herbs and spices. Let's be real, most people buy basil and let it sit for years in their cupboard. I would pick a one year old Penzeys basil any day over freshly bought grocery basil. Hope this helped.

Your Fellow Cooking Fiend,

Pedro

www.mykitchenandyou.com (please mention cookingforums.net in any comments you should make if you should visit my website.)

mykitchenandyou at gmail dot com

[Compbrake]

I would pick a one year old Penzeys basil any day over freshly bought grocery basil. Hope this helped.

Your Fellow Cooking Fiend,


Read your post and I thought it didn't really answer uht7hu's question. You steered that person towards a website that sold spices. From the original thread I get the feeling that this person has no idea about either herbs or spices ? Could be a troll...I don't know.

And then I noticed you used dried Basil as an example....And if you are Pedro , then I would classify you as a person of poor food knowledge. Dried Basil should be banned because it has none of the amazing character and flavor of fresh basil. If you can't source fresh Basil then do something else !. Do you agree ?

[Semigourmet]

For the Chicken with Broccoli and pasta: there are several ways you could go. one is a pesto sauce, with a little extra Parmesan cheese if needed, I would say about 1/3 to 1/2 cup pesto sauce.

1/4 teaspoon each Onion powder, garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt, dash of black pepper, maybe 1/4 teaspoon paprika, 1/8 teaspoon ground sage, or ground thyme.

Just to name a couple.

for the chicken, corn, peas and carrots. I would add some 2-4 tablespoons butter (to taste), 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon each basil, salt, maybe some diced tomatoes, and or diced mozzarella all to taste. you could also use cream in place of the butter.

for the beef and Oatmeal. how about making it taste somewhat like a meatloaf type, 1/8 cup ketchup, 1 tablespoon A1 Steak Sauce, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and a dash of black pepper.

With the eggs and mushrooms, try dried seasonings 1/8 teaspoon ground dried or fresh rosemary, thyme, and maybe some shredded cheese of your liking.
you should use 1/4 of the amount of fresh herbs.

[saltworks]

Hi,

I am looking for advice on what herbs would be good to add to the following dishes to improve their flavor and how much of the herbs to add.

I don't like hot spices like pepper or onions they give me stomach pains, but things like basil, thyme, sage, etc would probably be okay. Cost would be an issue so something like saffron would be too expensive. I'm interested in flavoring not appearance.

I cook these on the stove top for a few minutes. I eat about 1/4 right away and put the rest in containers in fridge to eat later - if that makes a difference (I've noticed that sometimes flavors develop over time)

If you can suggest what herbs would be good to add flavor to these dishes and how much of the herbs to add it would be very helpful....

#1: chicken, broccoli, and pasta (1 lb of chicken thighs cut into small pieces, 12 oz broccoli, 7 oz whole wheat pasta)


#2: chicken, corn, peas, carrots ( 1 lb of chicken thighs cut into small pieces, 6oz corn, 6oz peas, 9 oz carrots


#3: ground beef: (1 lb of ground beef, cooked in a sauce pan until the fat separates, I pour off some of the fat and add water and 1 cup of oatmeal.


#4: 2 fried eggs with mushrooms


Thanks

I love using the no salt italian herb seasoning from costco. very easy and very effective!

[abi_csi]

A mixed dried herb would be great for any of these recipe's AND the cost would be relatively low. Mixed dried herbs usually have a few or all of the following, so these alone or in a mix work well:
Oregano
Basil
Thyme
Marjoram
Rosemary
Sage
You could flavour the ground beef up with a stock cube and maybe some dried onion powder if you fancy it and the flavour's not too strong.