Do you spice up your food with a lot of spices?

[thisnthat]

I tend to spice up all my food anyway, but I do it even more so when I'm trying to substitute things. If my substitution seems bland, I can often give it a little more kick with added spices, to make it do-able. Do you tend to use a lot of spices for vegetarian dishes?

What are your favorite spices?

 

[kim1984]

I love using spices -- I have a big spice rack in my kitchen and any time I cook they're on heavy rotation! I also love fresh herbs, we grow a few different things in our garden. I would say it really depends on what type of cuisine I'm cooking as to what particular herbs and spices I use, but we love oregano, basil, cumin, cilantro, garam masala...those are the main ones on rotation here! If anyone has any recommendations (with a recipe too if you have one!) please feel free to share!

 

[Connie]

I always put extra spices into my meals. If a recipe calls for 1/2tsp of cumin, the likelihood is that I will add 1tsp of cumin and we often make a recipe, taste it and then change it to our liking with our own herbs and spices.
I have a huge range of spices. Most of my herbs are grown outside, or are in my freezer. I don't really do dried herbs, but spices are another matter entirely and there is an entire 1½ large shelves given over to my spice collection which is often used. I can't really think of a meal aside from breakfast that does not have a herb or spice in it!

 

[Fiery]

I love using spices! I often create stir fry with many different types of vegetables and a lot of spices. It's a great way to incorporate many types of vegetables, which helps it taste great and be fulfilling. I add any type of vegetables I have, usually carrots, cabbage, and chickpeas. I add both ground and whole spices. I add cardamom and cinnamon sticks to my stir fry. Cardamom gives my stir fry a nice savory flavor. Cinnamon sticks, although it may seem odd, is something I love to add in my stir fry. It gives it a depth and a level of spice that I enjoy. I may also add some bay leaves. I use a lot of Ground Turmeric, Cumin and Paprika. These are some good, bold spices that you might enjoy in a lot of vegetarian dishes. I often eat my stir fry with flat bread, and it always taste great.

 

[Alexia]

I'm not a huge spice lover, but I like savory flavors so I tend to use a few chilli flakes, soy sauce, black pepper and some herbs. I know some vegetarian dishes can be bland, especially tofu so a dash of chilli sauce always helps.

I'm allergic to curry so I can't use any of the spices in curry, hence only a few chilli flakes, but I use things like sweetcorn relish and onion chutney which always makes a dish tastier.

 

[kianthras]

When I cook vegetarian meals I tend to use more spices than not, so that the flavors of the vegetables come out and are able to play a little with the spices. I love adding heat to my dishes, so I have a tendency to use a lot of red chili flakes, turmeric, paprika, curry power, and a few other odds and ends in. The other staples I have are onion powder, garlic powder, and cumin.