I promise this story leads to three recipes for tasty spice blends to add to your cooking repertoire. But before we go down that path, I need to tell you about a favorite meal, or at least one I have been known to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s green eggs and — not ham. I’m a vegetarian, so it’s green eggs and rice. Now, if you’re like me, the first thing you think is that you want absolutely nothing to do with green eggs. Food dyes are highly questionable, and if your name is Sam then you are probably against green eggs from the start, per Dr. Seuss.
Don’t worry, these eggs are green because of a healthy dose of, well, insert your favorite leafy here: chard, spinach, kale, collards. My personal go-to is Swiss chard. The rainbow stemmed variety, if you must know.
Here’s what I do: put a single serving of rice on to cook and while it’s steaming whisk an egg with a little salt and water and a lot of chopped green leaves. I scramble the mixture up over low heat and layer it in a bowl on top of the rice. Then I grate in some parmesan and grind a little black pepper on top. Voila! In less than 30 minutes, you have yourself a meal. Protein, check. Carbs, check. Veggies, check. What more could you want? Chocolate. you say? Well, yes. But save it for after. Don’t add it to the eggs.
This meal is great. It’s comforting, healthy, quick, and, after the umpteenth time, boring. Don’t get me wrong. You should try it as I just described, and as long as you haven’t eaten it a dozen times in the past two weeks, I predict you will find it delightful. I think it’s safe to assume that we all have recipes like this: the ones we loved until we didn’t. This is where the spice mixes come in.
A few months ago, I was perusing Divya Alter’s Joy of Balance — reading cookbooks is something I tend to do while eating a meal — and I came to a section on spice mixes. I could almost hear my newly acquired electric spice grinder bouncing up and down in my cupboard. (Actually, it does sort of bounce up and down when it runs, but that’s probably something I should tell the manufacturer about, not you.)
The next time I went to the market, I stocked up on all sorts of ingredients. Old favorites like cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric (this one insists on staining my cloth napkins yellow, but I love it dearly all the same), and fennel. And new things I had never tried: fenugreek, which has a sweet and nutty, some say maple-syrup flavor; ajwain seed, which smells like thyme and has a flavor that combines notes of anise and oregano; and smoky, oniony-tasting black seed, also known as nigella.
I pulled out my book again and started to toast and grind the spices. The aroma in my cottage was wonderful, and soon I had several little jars filled with what I hoped would be inspirational additions to my eating life. Now, what to use them on? The book had some vague suggestions, like add to soup or use with vegetables. My immediate thought, however, was green eggs and rice. Because, of course, that’s what I was planning on making for dinner. I sprinkled a small scoop into my egg mixture and watched my pale-yellow eggs turn vibrant. This was the mix that included turmeric.
As the eggs cooked, I smelled the cumin, coriander, fennel, and cinnamon, and realized that there was hope once again for my tired green-egg meal. I was right. The eggs were so much more flavorful. I stirred them into the rice, letting the spices coat it as well. Huzzah!
Now, I keep a variety of homemade spice mixes in my kitchen to add to eggs, soups, rice, oatmeal — you name it. I just pick what I’m in the mood for and it inevitably makes my food more exciting.
If you aren’t yet convinced by my spice mix story, there’s also this: they just might make you feel good. Most of the spice mixes I make, including the three recipes included here, are inspired by the ayurvedic tradition, which is an approach to health that originated in India over 3,000 years ago. The basic principle behind ayurveda is that the mind and body’s three doshas, or combination of essential elements, need to be in balance; poor health comes from imbalances within the body. There are many practices in the tradition to prevent or treat these imbalances, including the generous use of healing spices. The spices included in the recipes below are considered helpful, particularly in aiding digestion.
Last, but certainly not least, it’s December and there is much gift giving going on. I suggest filling little bottles with freshly made (and fully cooled) spice mixtures and tying them with a ribbon for each of your friends and family members.
THREE WINTER SPICE MIXES
Winter Digestive Spice Mix
This is the blend I initially used in my green eggs and rice. I also recommend adding this mix to rice as it cooks. It lends a mild flavor and a lovely color.
3 Tbsp. coriander seeds
2 Tbsp. fennel seeds
2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
2 tsp. cumin seeds
2 tsp. turmeric (ground)
1 tsp. cardamom seeds
1 tsp. cinnamon (ground)
Warming Spice Mix
This combination of savory spices from South Asian cooking goes well with roasted root vegetables. The mix has an assertive flavor from the black and ajwain seeds, which are both slightly bitter. I am particularly fond of using this mix with carrots. The sweetness of the roasted roots complements the bitter spice. I slice my carrots into long sticks and rub them with spice and avocado oil or ghee before roasting in the oven.
1 Tbsp. fennel seeds
1 Tbsp. black seeds (also called nigella seed)
1 Tbsp. ajwain seeds (caraway seeds are a closely related substitute if you can’t find ajwain seeds)
1 Tbsp. fenugreek seeds
Sweet Spice Mix
Oatmeal can also get boring, but this spice blend adds some excitement to breakfast. I stir a half teaspoon into my oats as they cook. Then I top my spiced oatmeal with berries or thinly sliced apples and a generous drizzle of almond butter.
The mix is also excellent stirred into applesauce. For a quick cooked apple in the morning, I chop the apple into ½-inch chunks (peel if you like) and boil in a 1/3 cup of water until soft. Drain and stir in spice mix to taste.
1 Tbsp. fennel seeds
1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
2 tsp. cinnamon (ground)
1 tsp. cardamom seeds
½ tsp. ginger (ground) or more to taste
- For all three mixes, begin by lightly dry-toasting the whole spices in a skillet until fragrant. Toasting the spices enhances their benefits, but be careful not to walk away from the stove. You want them only lightly toasted, and they burn easily.
- Let seeds cool and stir them into the already ground spices. Add the mix to an electric spice grinder and grind to a coarse powder (including the already ground spices when you do this ensures everything is well combined). Alternatively, grind the toasted whole spices with a mortar and pestle, then stir in already ground spices.
- Store your mix in a jar out of direct light. It’s best to use spice mixes within a month for optimal freshness and benefits.
