By Good food makes life better but sometimes it is difficult to know what to do to add that extra flavor. There are healthy and unhealthy ways to add extra flavor. Lets go through a few!
Unhealthy
Adding extra butter, heavy creams, and bacon grease will provide that rich flavor to foods. Sometimes there is not a good way around adding these items, the dish calls for them and they wouldn’t be the same without them.
The dish above calls for cooking in bacon grease and the potatoes have both heavy cream and butter. It is a fantastic and delicious French dish but not healthy at all.
Healthy
Here are some healthier ways to add amazing flavor to recipes.
- Add fresh herbs. Fresh herbs are fantastic as garnish and they are an easy way to add a variety of flavors. To make this slightly unhealthy, combine fresh herbs to make compound butters. This is also a great way to preserve herbs.
- Add citrus or vinegars. Adding a small bit of acidity to a dish can really brighten it up and provide a wider range of flavors. This can be done by adding juice or zest of lemons, limes, and sometime oranges. I really like using white wine vinegar if I don’t have lemons or limes available. Unless the recipe calls for it earlier add the acidic factor towards the end of the recipe.
- Sauté Onions and Garlic. This one little step does take a bit of time but it really helps to release the flavors and makes the dish taste so much better.
- Change the way you cook vegetables. So many vegetables are over cooked or cooked the same way each time and they loose something. Try these instead: grill, bake, roast, air fry, or sautéed.
- Taste your food as you go. We all keep easy meals for times we don’t have the time or energy to cook. Don’t be afraid to add additional spices or herbs. An easy go to is mac-n-cheese, add black pepper and chives to it with some chicken or bacon to step it up a bit. Jarred pasta sauce? Add additional herbs (fresh or dried) or mushrooms or diced tomatoes. If you do over the salt, add a bit of sugar to help with the excess salt flavor.
- Add an egg. Eggs are not just for breakfast and they are a great form of proteins. The cheap ramen with a poached egg or two and some green onions or chives makes a great lazy day meal.
I like making everything from scratch and taking a hours to get things just right but the truth is we don’t all have that kind of time. However, we still want to feel good about and enjoy what we eat. I hope these tips help you to take your cooking to the next level. I’d love to know what times you use to make recipes taste better. Let me know in the comments and happy cooking!
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