Cooking with Herbs and Spices

The article published by Health Watch MD last week about herbs and spices was so much fun to do. I did give some ideas about what herbs and spices paired with which foods - but I thought I would share some of my favorite herbs and spices recipes, so you could take advantage of the wonderful summer growing and grilling season.

To Prepare Your Meat or Poultry for the Grill:
Marinate chicken breasts, thighs or a pork tenderloin for 1 hour in a mixture of 2 TB Olive oil, 1 TB Chopped Rosemary, 1 TB Chopped Parsley, 1 Cup White Wine, (or Apple juice) and 1 TB Dijon Mustard. Remove from the marinade, pat dry and season with salt and pepper and grill. Add a green salad and a side of the Herb Cornbread Muffins and you have dinner!

Cilantro Barbeque Sauce

1 ½ Cup Minced Onions

2 TB Unsalted Butter


1 Tsp Turmeric


4 Garlic Cloves, grated

1 ½ Cups Ketchup (low sugar if possible)

¼ Cup Bourbon (optional)

2 TB Dark Brown Sugar


¼ Tsp Cayenne Pepper


1 Tsp Smoked Paprika

2 TB Lemon Juice


¼ Cup Cider Vinegar


1 TB Worcestershire Sauce


½ Cup Orange Juice (if not adding bourbon, add another ½ cup orange juice.

3 TB Chopped Cilantro, plus more for garnish

Sauté the onion in the butter and turmeric until soft. Add the garlic and cook and stir for an additional minute. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 – 45 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve with chicken, portabella mushrooms or pork that has been seasoned with a sprinkle of smoked paprika, salt and pepper.

Easy Herb Cornbread Muffins

¾ Cup All-Purpose Flour

½ Cup Whole Wheat Flour

¾ Cup Corn Meal

    (Yellow or White)

2 TB Raw Sugar*

2 Tsp Baking Powder

½ Tsp Sea Salt

1 Cup Light Buttermilk

    (or Nonfat Yogurt)

¼ Cup Canola or Oil

2 Egg Whites

2 TB Chopped Fresh Herbs (If using dried use 1 TB)

Step One

Preheat the oven to 400F. Combine the flours, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.

Step Two

In another bowl, stir in buttermilk, oil, egg whites, and herbs.

Step Three

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients - mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into 12 or 24 non-stick sprayed muffin tin. Bake 12 -18 minutes or until golden brown.

*I am using raw sugar here, because I am trying yo use a less processed sweetener - if you have plain sugar it is fine.