Hey guys,
I want to incorporate more spices into my meal preparation.
I know some spices are good for weight loss, and some others are good for your health in general.
So for weight loss I read about Cinnamon and Cloves. Problem is I really don’t know what to add them to in a keto diet.
I have also read Curcumin (sp?) is something I should eat, and it works well with ground beef.
So my question is, what spices do you use regularly on Keto, and what food do you use them with?
How I love spices! I would say they have saved my life actually - as I was raised with limited spices in a typical white suburban American palate - mostly seasoning salt and seasoning packets in Hamburger Helper and such.
Getting to know spices is to embark on an adventurous and neurological adventure! This is traditional healing alchemy in many regions throughout the world - not only for the palate, but also for the heart and the belly (digestive enzymes). The tastes, aromas, visual appeal, and medicinal benefits can be very helpful.
Pick just a handful of specific spices to start with, and get to know them well, then over time diversify. Eventually, you will be able to combine spices in ways that can only be compared to magic:
Like any living being, spices in their dried and fresh forms have attributes/personalities - Dr. Vasant Lad in The Yoga of Herbs describes the qualities of spices and herbs (such as cooling, heating, gas-clearing, circulation-enhancing, diuretic, etc). Also, there are regional differences. Ceylon Cinnamon is sweeter than Chinese cinnamon, and green Cardamom tastes nearly totally different than black Cardamom.
Part of the magic of spices has to do with adding plenty of sea salt a few minutes before you’re done cooking - to expand their savory synergy.
Or, you can go the direction of sweet - and use sweeter spices along with your favorite sweetener in some preparations as warmed cream, syrups, smoothies, or fat bombs for other miracles.
Here are some of my beloved spicing blends in my LCHF kitchen. I usually gather the bottles of the out of the cupboard, and have them handy before hand rather than dig for them while oil is hot.
Spices for coffee brewing: 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon or ground Cardamom (traditional in Turkey) - also enhance smoothies and go well with cocoa powder. When using Cardamom in a smoothie or sweet cream dessert with a few berries, I’ll also add a bit of Rose water along with sweetener.
“Trinity Root” is an ancient secret of many north and south Asian dishes:
1/4-1/2 fresh chopped onion (3-5 carbs) sauteed for 10 minutes in clarified butter (ghee) - then you add 1 heaping tablespoon fresh grated Ginger and 1-2 cloves chopped Garlic. Heavenly aromas, and an excellent base from which to build a gravy with chopped tomatoes and then warm up leftover meat in it. Or, to cook raw chicken thighs or ground beef in - just add them a few minutes after you start the onion.
Sweet-hot Indian taste for any sauce, added to an base saute and or plain oil and pan fried for a minute or too before adding other ingredients: 1-2 tblsp Coriander powder + 1/2 tsp Turmeric (curcumin) + a touch of cayenne or chipotle Chilli powder (1/4 tsp). You can also add about a tsp of Fennel seeds or Anise seeds for even more sweet mystical flavors ~ or 1/2-1 cup cup of fresh chopped Coriander (cilantro) to add greening power.
Sweet-sausaugey spiced Italian base for any saute: fresh garlic sauteed in abundant fat of your choice over medium heat till light golden in oil then removed (so you have a garlic oil, rather than burnt garlic - you can use the removed garlic as a condiment), turn heat down a little then add 1-2 tsp Fennel seeds + 1/2 tsp red Chilli flakes for a quick roasting before adding some meat or veg. You can also make it a cream sauce by adding HWC. It’s wonderful with any meat, also great as a “pasta” sauce over well-cooked and butter-tossed spaghetti squash.
Kashmiri flavors: Start your fat with 10-20 whole green Cardamom pods and 10-20 whole Cloves and 5-10 whole Black Peppercorns - let them plump up a little, then add yer chopped shallots/onion and some grated fresh ginger and maybe a little (1 tsp) Paprika or Turmeric for color, then yer meat and cover it and simmer it real low. When done, add a cup or two of HWC if you prefer creaminess.
Many spiced dishes go well with a side of dehydrated coconut sprinkles, or shredded cheese, or avocado slices.
And, there are days when the simplicity of sea salt & fresh ground pepper is great too!
Cheers!
There’s not much more to say, but start simple and think about what foods you like, if you like Thai, look up some Thai recipes, the same with other types. Tumeric is apparently good for inflammation, chillies are good for congestion & digestion, garlic is good for everything (at least in my opinion). Once you feel a bit more comfortable with spices you can start experimenting and just throwing things together.
This is an excellent post. OP should print it out and like Elle79 suggests, start experimenting to see what tastes good for them and go from there. Luckily the internet is the world’s largest cookbook on keto or any other diet for that matter.
There is an old Chinese proverb that “Garlic is as good as ten mothers.” Yum!
I have found great success with the spices ratios in The KetoDiet Cookbook by Martina Slajerova - her Lamb Vindaloo recipe is very authentic (I just add a little chipotle powder for some heat) and you can use other types of meat for it too.
Also really enjoy Headbanger’s Kitchen keto cooking videos for inspiration - they’re short, and the humble host is also a heavy metal musician (thus his background guitar and his performer name is Demonstealer) - great resource for quick cooking for ordinary people who like to eat!!!
Based in Mumbai/Bombay, with lots of savory keto recipes as well as great desserts!
