How to Add a Kick to Your Meals

Although we have access to the internet and millions of recipes at our disposal at any given moment: many of us are finding that our food is becoming one-note. Of course, our dishes all deserve some extra flavor added to make them interesting, but it can be hard to be adventurous with flavors when we’ve become accustomed to a specific diet.

If you’re ready to switch things up and enjoy dishes that offer more than the basics, these are the top ways to add a kick to your meals!

Try New Seasonings

The smallest step you can take to start stretching your palette is to start with one or two new spices that you don’t usually use.  This could be adding a dash of cayenne to your breakfast eggs or trying some chiltepin seasoning next time you’re in the Southwest.  Using one simple seasoning like this and acclimating before trying another moves your boundaries at a slow yet steady rate.  If you’re not accustomed to trying new things, this is the best way to do it.

Play With Flavor Combinations

Do you want to make new exciting foods but don’t have a huge budget to try fresh ingredients or spices?  Consider new combinations that you wouldn’t have considered before.  This could be something fun like strawberries into jelly pepper dip or something with a larger commitment like spreading peanut butter on a burger.  Both of these are delicious, but one takes a lot more trust to try since it could change the flavor of a larger portion of food.  If you try a combination and don’t like it: that’s okay!  You can always try something else next time.

Don’t Fear Heat

Spicy and hot foods are traditionally labeled with fun faux warning signs, or flames, to show off how dastardly they are: but you don’t have to fear spicy food!  Not only are spicier dishes delicious, but they can also be good for your mood and energy levels.  A great way to add heat to any dish is to make chili oil.  You can make this at home using any mild oil like vegetable oil, pepper flakes, or chopped spicy peppers, a pan with a lid, and some type of mask to protect your airways while it cooks.

Heat the oil until right when it hits a near-frying point and begins to look like water, and then pour the pepper flakes or pepper pieces in.  You can add to the flavor by adding spices like star anise or garlic.  Let the pepper sit in the oil, occasionally stirring, for anywhere between twenty minutes and two hours.  The longer it sits, the hotter it will be. Next, drain the oil into a bottle and refrigerate.  After a couple more days, the flavors should develop, and you can use this on anything from chicken to veggies to add a spicy and fun flavor.

If you’re new to heat or interested in changing things up and want a new way to approach your food, take it step by step!  The best flavors are out there, just waiting to be discovered.