Spice Up Your Meal Prep with These Flavor Profiles
Spice Up Your Meal Prep with These Flavor Profiles
When you first get into meal prepping, it can be easy to fall into a pattern. You find one thing you love that works, so you make it over and over and over. But after a few weeks, you start to feel like you are stuck on a loop and you begin to crave variety, which can sometimes lead to making less healthy choices than you might want simply because you need to eat something, anything else. However, you can get ahead of meal prep boredom with simple adjustments that are as easy as exploring your spice cabinet. “Spices can transform a meal by adding a range of flavors, from a hint of sweetness to a kick of heat. They also give beautiful aromas that are often our first determining factor for whether we want to eat a meal or not.” Additionally, some spices can bring out and enhance the natural flavors of certain foods, such as in the case of salt and cumin.[1] However, we understand that the sheer amount of spices available at the supermarket might feel intimidating at first, so to start it can help to think of a region of the world or style of cooking and go from there. Check out some popular flavor profiles you can use to start enhancing your meal prep and add some variety to your cooking:
• Chinese: fennel seed, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, ginger, red chili pepper
• Indian: bay leaves, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, coriander, nutmeg, mustard powder, garlic powder
• Italian: basil, garlic, onion powder, oregano, parsley
• Mediterranean: bay leaves, oregano, rosemary, thyme, cardamom, ginger powder, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, basil
• Mexican: coriander, cumin, chili powder, oregano, cinnamon, garlic powder
• Thai: basil, cumin, cardamom, garlic powder, ginger, turmeric, curry powder[2]
These are just a jumping off point, of course—there are tons of other flavor profiles to explore, such as Caribbean or Creole, and you can experiment as well as mix and match to find what your favorites are. The point is to keep playing with your food (yes, you are allowed in this instance) to find what you like. With a creative spice profile, you can spice up (pun intended) even a simple rice dish and challenge your palate with more interesting meal preps. Of course, not every spice profile will work for everyone and you should be sure to check with your physician before making any major changes to your diet. But, that being said, there is a whole world of flavors to explore, so get out there and start experimenting!
[1] Pando, Stephany. “The Ultimate Infographic Guide to Spices.” Cook Smarts, Cook Smarts, 27 Apr. 2022, https://www.cooksmarts.com/articles/ultimate-infographic-guide-spices/.
[2] Firkser, Rebecca. “A Visual Guide to Spice Combos so You Can Season like a Champ.” Greatist, Greatist, 7 Feb. 2017, https://greatist.com/eat/a-visual-guide-to-spice-combinations#10.