Our food would be nothing without spices. Even small amounts of these potent pantry staples can turn an ordinary ingredient or dish into something transcendent. There are plenty of ways to ensure you get the most out of your spices, including storing them properly and grinding them fresh when it really counts. Also, don't let them languish for years: Turnover is key to spices with the best aroma and flavor. Learning which spices to use when and how to combine them are skills you will hone the more you cook and experiment. Anyone looking to fully embrace them should check out the Jerk Chow Mein With Tofu that Aaron Hutcherson shared from cookbook author Jon Kung. This merging of Chinese and Caribbean cuisines features a heady jerk paste, made with paprika, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper and more, that coats a skillet full of tofu, snow peas and springy noodles. Sometimes even the smallest addition of a spice is all it takes to elevate a dish. That's the case with the Broiled Oranges With Cardamom from Ellie Krieger. The halved fruit first gets coated with a mix of honey and cardamom. Then the pieces are run under the broiler and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, fresh mint and a dusting of cardamom. In other dishes, the spices may already be folded into an ingredient. In her first original recipe for our Eat Voraciously newsletter while our colleague Daniela Galarza is on parental leave, Julia Turshen puts Italian sausage to good use in her Farro, Kale and Sausage Stew. Fennel, paprika and other spices typically light up these links, which really make the flavors pop in this hearty, one-pot weeknight dinner. Can we go ahead and lump dried herbs in with spices? I'm inclined to, so allow me to give my seal of approval to Jessie Sheehan's Soda Bread Focaccia, a delightful mashup in which the pillowy dough is brushed with olive oil packed with dried thyme and garlic and onion powders, then showered with crushed red pepper flakes and flaky salt. I happened to test this bread and Julia's stew on the same day and served them together — a match made in heaven! If you're looking for more ideas for all those spices in your pantry, or have any other cooking questions, be sure to join Aaron and me in our live weekly chat Wednesday at noon Eastern. Submit your questions now, and come back once we kick things off for our fast-paced hour of talking all things food. Until next week, happy cooking! (Rey Lopez for The Washington Post/food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post ) This 35-minute meal has a scalp-tingling level of spice that begs you to take another bite. By Aaron Hutcherson ● Read more » | | You've probably had a broiled grapefruit, so why not give an orange the same luscious treatment? By Ellie Krieger ● Read more » | | This simple, comforting and customizable stew comes together quickly. By Julia Turshen ● Read more » | | This speedy recipe marries two popular breads in one delicious slab. By Jessie Sheehan ● Read more » | | |
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