Caribbean Green Seasoning: A Flavorful, Herbal Marinade
Caribbean Green Seasoning used throughout the West Indies to make delicious and savory meat dishes including pork, beef, chicken and fish.
Month: March 2019
List of Foods for the Keto Diet: What to Eat and Avoid
Of all the diets and ways of eating that I’ve tried in my efforts to lose weight, I only feel compelled to write about the keto diet. In all reality, I wasn’t impressed with my initial results after strictly following the keto diet for Read more
Spices & Seasonings – The Secret to Delicious Food
One of the things that surprised me when I first moved to the US, was the fact that many Americans do not use a variety of spices and seasonings (other than salt and pepper) to season their food. In the Caribbean where I’m from, we tend to use an overabundance of seasonings in our food. To our minds the more spices and herbs, the better and the more tasty the food.
Spices and seasonings don’t only impart flavor to dishes, they also have medicinal and other nutrients that are highly beneficial for our bodies. In this post, I’m going to share some spices, herbs, and other seasonings that should be a part of your pantry, and that will have you consistently preparing meals that are as healthy as they are delicious.
Garam Masala
- Black Pepper – anti-oxidant, improves digestion, and enhances bio-availability of other spices and compounds.
- Coriander (seed of the cilantro plant) – anti-inflammatory, lowers cholesterol, anti-diarrheal, and aids in digestion.
- Cumin – promotes digestion, may help with diabetes and cholesterol, is iron-rich, and has anti-oxidants.
- Cinnamon – powerful anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial.
- Fennel – helps regulate blood pressure, improves brain function, boosts immunity, relieves indigestion and anti-flatulent
- Nutmeg – promotes digestion, is anti-bacterial, supports liver function, is anti-depressant and regulates blood pressure
- Cloves – improve oral health, improves digestion, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic
Just imagine, using just a tiny bit of this exotic spice blend will impart not only a great depth of flavor but also a host of health benefits! The combination of the pungent spices in garam masala endows savoriness and brings out the essence of any food you prepare including meats, fish, or vegetables.
Caribbean Green Seasoning
Green seasoning is a prerequisite in every Caribbean kitchen. Also known as sofrito in Latinx communities, green seasoning is composed of several aromatic herbs blended together with garlic, vinegar, and hot pepper to make a pulpy paste. A basic recipe may contain scallions, broadleaf thyme, cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper (seeded), vinegar, salt, and pepper. It’s no wonder we call it green seasoning! Some benefits of these ingredients are listed below.
- Fresh Herbs – anti-bacterial, boosts immunity, lowers blood sugar, reduces blood pressure, and much more.
- Scotch Bonnet – anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, boosts immunity and metabolism
- Vinegar – controls blood sugar, is anti-microbial and may reduce cholesterol
The fresh herbs, pepper, and vinegar combine to make this green seasoning that’s suitable for use on any kind of protein. It is especially delicious in pork, chicken, beef, and fish. So how do we use green seasoning? It’s actually very easy to use and doesn’t require the addition of other spices when used to season meats.
You use green seasoning by pouring a generous amount over the meat, enough to cover all surface areas. Massage seasoning into meat and let marinate overnight for best results. After marination is complete, simply cook your meat in any way desired. Be it braised, stewed, fried, smoked, or baked your food will come out delicious guaranteed!
Ginger
Ginger is a pungent rhizome that is used in many cuisines including, Asian, Indian, and Caribbean cooking. Ginger is commercially available as a paste or a dried powder but is best used fresh to enjoy its aromatic properties. Ginger is a warming spice that adds zest and a hint of spiciness to any dish. This remarkable root is not only delicious in stir-fries, rubs, and marinades, it is also highly medicinal. Among the benefits of ginger:
- Relieves gastric distress
- Relieves nausea due to cancer treatment, motion sickness, pregnancy, etc.
- Anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving
- Cold and flu relief (promotes sweating and warms the body from within)
- Pain reduction (good for muscle and menstrual pain)
Ginger is used chopped, crushed, or grated into savory dishes, dried to use as a seasoning spice or for tea, and crystallized to make a delicious candy. Do you see now why you need this versatile spice in your life?
Lemon Pepper
Lemon pepper seasoning is an all-purpose spice mix containing a blend of savory ingredients including onion, black pepper, basil, oregano, celery seed, bay leaf, savory, thyme, coriander, cayenne, mustard, rosemary, marjoram, garlic, lemon juice, lemon peel, lemon oil, and chili pepper.
As you can see, lemon pepper seasoning is packed with complex, savory, lemony, and herbaceous spices. This makes it the perfect seasoning for any dish. When I’m in a hurry I use a salt-free lemon pepper seasoning with a bit of salt on chicken, fish, or lamb and then toss it into my air-fryer for a quick dinner in 10 minutes.
Make sure you have lemon pepper seasoning in your pantry if nothing else, it will work for most savory dishes.
Make Delicious Food – Use Spices!
In my opinion, seasoning blends like lemon pepper and garam masala are the best way to incorporate spices and seasoning into your dishes. You save time because you don’t have to spend time buying and blending individual spices. Of course, you can always do that but I’d wager you’d prefer to save that time for enjoying dinner with your family.
Seasonings and spices impart more than flavor to food, they also add compounds and nutrients that are highly beneficial to our health. Using spices to season our dishes is another way we can enhance the healing properties of food. What spices do you use in your kitchen? Let me know in the comments. Until next time, Happy Eating!
The Healthiest Drinks for Your Well-Being
In any discussion about healthy diets or lifestyles, there’s often talk about what and how to eat. Very rarely is there any discussion about what we should be drinking to supplement our nutritional profile. In this post, I’ll be discussing several types of beverages Read more
Small Kitchen Appliances: Essential Tools for Every Cook
I live in New York City. This means my kitchen is tiny and I don’t have a lot of room for a lot of the kitchen equipment many of us take for granted. As someone who finds Zen in cooking, I was a bit Read more
Monk Sweet+ with Stevia Review: A Low-Calorie Sweetener Option
In recent years, “sugar” has become a bad word. While we enjoy its delicious sweetness, we now know that excessive consumption of sugar makes for a world of serious ailments including diabetes and obesity. To mitigate the damage that sugar causes, many of us look for alternatives that can provide its sweetness without the negative effects.
I’ve already mentioned Monk Sweet + with Stevia in my article on Sugar Alternatives for Diabetics but I also wanted to do a comprehensive review of this remarkable sweetener. I will discuss my personal experience with this sugar alternative and I’ll also include what others are saying about it.
What is Monk Sweet+ with Stevia?
Monk Sweet+ with Stevia is a sugar-free sweetener that is suitable for diabetics or anyone looking for an alternative to sugar. Monk Sweet+ with Stevia is made primarily with erythritol which is a sugar alcohol that is low in calories and not fully absorbed by our digestive systems thereby making it low in carbohydrates. Erythritol has about 75% to 80% of the sweetness of sugar.
Monk Sweet+ with Stevia also contains monk fruit extract and stevia. Monk fruit, a melon native to Southeast Asia, is a fruit containing sweet compounds known as mogrosides that are up to 200 times as sweet as sugar. Stevia is a plant whose leaves are dried and powdered to produce a sweetener that’s up to 300 times as sweet as sugar.
These three ingredients are combined to make a very versatile sweetener called Monk Sweet+ with Stevia.
Who Should Use Monk Sweet+ with Stevia?
In a word, everyone! Let’s face it, many of us have a sweet tooth. We all enjoy having a bit of sweet here or there, whether it’s a little in our coffee or a full out dessert like cheesecake. We also know that too much sugar is detrimental to our health and we have to look for alternatives that will allow us to enjoy some sweetness without the bitterness of sugar-induced diseases.
Monk Sweet+ with Stevia is a low-calorie, sugar-free sweetener that is suitable for diabetics and people following a low-glycemic or low carbohydrate diet. You can use this sweetener to sweeten any beverage (hot or cold), baked goods, puddings, mousses, and any other item that needs to be sweetened.
Another great thing about Monk Sweet+ with Stevia is that it’s low in calories and has a low net carb count. This means it works well for those following Atkins, Keto, Paleo or any low carb, low glycemic diet.
Too Good to Be True?
I can almost hear you now, “Dawn yes, we know you love Monk Sweet but is it all perfect?” Well, I think we all know that there’s nothing that’s 100% perfect, but Monk Sweet+ with Stevia comes pretty close. This sugar-free sweetener sweetens cleanly without the cooling sensation of erythritol or the bitterness of stevia, however it does have a few drawbacks. You should weigh the pros and the cons and decide for yourself if this is the one and only sugar free alternative for you as it is for me.
Pros:
- Perfectly sweetens anything
- Low carb with less than 5g carbs per serving
- Twice as sweet as sugar so you use less
- Suitable for all diets – paleo, keto, Atkins, diabetic, etc.
Cons:
- Maybe gritty in some foods. Simply pulverize it in a magic bullet blender to make it dissolve better
- Expensive at around $10 per pound
- May cause a bit of gastric disturbance if you’re sensitive to any of its ingredients
What Others Are Saying About Monk Sweet+ with Stevia
You don’t just have to take my word about this remarkable sugar-free sweetener, look at what others have to say about it. I’ll save you the Google search and just place a few that I found on Amazon from verified buyers.
“5.0 out of 5 stars The BEST Keto sweetener January 29, 2018Size: 5 lb Verified Purchase I have been eating Keto for over a year and have been low carb for several years. I have tried almost every sweetener out there and this, by far, is the BEST sweetener out there. Very little to no aftertaste and I don’t get that “cooling effect” others give me. My tip when using this sweetener is to measure out what you need then grind it in a coffee grinder. I do this for all my sweeteners because it cuts aftertaste and also distributes and dissolves better when baking. I will be a loyal customer for life. Also, one last thing- THANK YOU for the cap/spout on the 5 lb bag. I hate, hate, hate zip tops because they never close right. I wish you’d put the cap/spout on all the size bags. So convenient and I don’t have to worry about it leaking or wasting any of my precious monk sweet ????”
“3.0 out of 5 starsGood product but too pricey December 1, 2017Size: 5lb Verified Purchase Good products for a diabetic like me and I used in my teas for over a year because it does hide the faint stevia aftertaste some people (like me) experience. Unfortunately, I have had to quit buying because the price just got too high / pricey. Now I buy Monk fruit extract and blend my own… ‘Sorry Charlie’.”
“1.0 out of 5 stars Not good, all the problems of all the sweeteners. June 30, 2018 Size: 5 lb Verified Purchase The Stevia aftertaste is very strong in this product. So is the cooling effect. Used it once and threw the rest away. Also, it says that it’s twice as sweet as sugar is isn’t. It’s about the same sweetness as sugar. I would sub it 1:1 if you like it.”
You can see I’ve included a full range of reviews on Monk Sweet+ with Stevia and they pretty much agree with my findings about this sweetener. This product received 4.5/5 stars on 118 Amazon reviews and out of these only 7 were 1-star reviews. The one-star reviews were from the few people who said they detected a hint of bitterness in product.
Final Thoughts on Monk Sweet+ with Stevia
In my opinion Monk Sweet+ with Stevia is the best sugar-free sweetener option available in the market today. I have used it to sweeten my keto low carb desserts including: chocolate mousse, cookies, cakes, donuts, coffee and I also use it to make my own sugar-free maple syrup. If you are in the market for the ideal low-carb, low-calorie, sugar-free sweetener Monk Sweet+ with Stevia is your best bet.
What do you think? Do you use sugar-free sweeteners? Have you tried Monk Sweet? Let us know in the comments. Happy Eating!