Lets Talk Seasonings!

Knowing how to season your will enhance your cooking and take it to a whole new level.

To start, know your basics and always have them on hand. Your most important seasonings are going to be

• Salt

• Pepper

• Garlic Powder

• Onion Powder

These are in almost all types and styles of cooking and the flavors can be used in so many ways. If you don't want to get too serious these are the only ones you are really going to need. If you want to kick it up a notch you can get seasonings based on the styles of food you like, think mexican food, greek, italian, whatever it is. Here, I will name a few that I think of for flavor preference and just what I use at home:

For mexican food I always tend to go for the basics along with chili powder, cumin, cayenne, adobo and don't forget fresh flavors like cilantro. When I think of greek food, oregano, lemon, dill, and herbs de Provence all come to mind in addition to the basics. Italian food is pretty easy, I use a lot of fresh herbs like basil and parsley, and then you have the crushed red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and parmesean with lots and lots of garlic and onion. Another one of my favorites is asian cooking, and while this style of food has some of the most amazing and distinct flavors, I typically stick to a solid few, and I tend to use a lot more "liquid" seasonings than dry with this style. You have your garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds, ginger, crushed red pepper, green onion, soy sauce, hoison, oyster sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and the list really goes on and on. There are hundred of other seasonings out there but I would say if you want to start cooking some pretty easy dishes, these are all going to be important to always have on hand and to incorporate in your cooking.

Something to think about is chicken. You can take something simple like a chicken breast and transform it into so many different variations just based on your seasonings, and whether thats a marinade or dry rub is up to you. This can be such an easy way to give different food styles a try and to get familiar with seasoning your food.

At the end of the day, these are the things that are going to amp up your cooking and you'll be able to get more variety out of the foods you want to make.