Contest: Spice Up Your Health!

Posted by Deana Gunn at 3/11/2009
Categories: Vegetarian and Vegan ,Food Recipes,Announcements Fun and Contests
Tags: beef spices herbs yogurt kebabs contest dessert
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March is National Nutrition Month, and we're celebrating by running a spice-themed recipe contest!  Spices are a great way to create healthy, nutritious meals (scroll down for our Top 10 list).  Reduce salt and fat, and instead use herbs and spices to jazz up savory dishes.  Back off of sugar, and use warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to liven sweet treats.  And go heavy on the garlic — garlic is believed to lower blood pressure and cholesterol.  Below are some of our most recent creations using spices from Trader Joe's.

We have some terrific spice-themed prizes set aside for you, so send in your original recipe for a healthy entree using bottled herbs & spices from Trader Joe's.  Are you a grill master with a killer rub recipe?  Do your dishes fill the room with interesting spicy aromas?  We want to hear about it!  We will judge winners based on creativity, flavor, and ease of preparation. 
Please email recipe entries to contest@cookingwithtraderjoes.com by midnight, March 27, 2009.  U.S. Residents only.

1st prize: Spice Stack organizer* (holds 18 bottles and even includes pre-printed
    shelf labels), granite mortar & pestle, microplane zester, nesting prep bowls
2nd prize: Spice Stack organizer*
3rd prize: The Spice and Herb Bible reference guide

*The Spice Stack has 3 drawers that slide out and pivot down so you can easily reach all your spices. It's the perfect organizing solution for spice lovers!  Sorry, spices not included.

Here are some recipes from our latest newsletter to get you going:

Minted Lamb Kebabs
Turkish Minted Kebabs
These kebabs are wonderful with lamb, but also tasty with beef.  Serve on a bed of couscous or Middle Eastern lavash bread, with a side of our Raita Cucumber Yogurt Dip (pg 196).

2 lbs leg of lamb (or beef),
   cut into 1" chunks
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
5 cloves garlic, crushed
   (available frozen)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, or
   1 Tbsp dried mint
1 red onion, cut into 1" chunks

1. Combine all spices in a Ziploc bag (everything except meat and onion).  Massage with your hands until all spices are well combined.  The spice mixture will be thick in texture, like a rub or paste.
2. Add meat and continue to massage, so that each piece of meat is coated with the minted spice mixture.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
3. Skewer meat and onion chunks.  Depending on the size of your skewers, you will have 4-6 skewers.
3. Grill for 6-8 minutes total, turning skewers every couple of minutes.  You can also cook on the stovetop using a grill pan.
4. Let meat rest under foil for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4.
Saffron Yogurt Dessert
Saffron Yogurt Pudding
Greek yogurt has a luxurious, thick texture similar to sour cream.  If you can't find Greek yogurt, drain plain yogurt in a paper-towel-lined strainer for 5+ hours or overnight.

1 (16-oz) pkg Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp Spanish Saffron threads
2 tsp hot water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup pistachios or almonds
Dried fruit as garnish (hibiscus
   flowers and mango shown
   in photo above)

1. In a small bowl, combine saffron and hot water.  Let sit for 10 minutes for color and flavor to be released.
2. Combine yogurt, saffron mixture, and sugar and mix well.
3. Place yogurt in 4 serving bowls, and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.  Top each bowl with 1 Tbsp nuts and garnish with dried fruit.

Serves 4.


And now (drum roll...) Our Top 10 herbs & spices for beginning cooks:

1. Basil is terrific for salad dressings, pastas, curries, pizza sauce, poultry, and meats.  (I prefer fresh basil, but dried basil is great to have on hand)
2. Oregano is great for pasta sauce, pizza sauce, seafood, and roasted chicken.
3. Rosemary imparts great aroma and flavor to seafood, pasta, roasted potatoes, and roasted chicken.
4. Cumin adds smoky depth to soups and chilis, is essential for making a great hummus, and is a critical spice for many Indian and middle-eastern dishes.
5. Cinnamon is a versatile warm flavor that is great on everything from simple desserts like rice pudding, to warm oatmeal in the morning, to savory dishes like middle-eastern rice.
6. Curry powder is the star ingredient in curried vegetables, curried rice, curried sweet potatoes, and flavoring curries.
7. Garlic is indispensable for pastas, stir fry, vegetables, or garlic bread.
8. Vanilla extract is a "must" for many cookies, desserts, pies, and puddings...even in oatmeal, coffee, or warm milk.
9. Salt is the king of basic seasoning, enhancing the flavor of foods.  Salt and pepper can be bought in containers with built-in grinders for maximum flavor. Try kosher salt or sea salt for best taste.
10. Black pepper goes hand-in-hand with salt and is best freshly ground.  Besides basic seasoning, it can be mixed with lemon zest and heavy cream for a great linguini sauce.

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  • 3/12/2009 Claudia Vitello wrote:
    OH BOY
  • 3/12/2009 Joanne Willey wrote:
    Thank you for the contest
  • 3/12/2009 Kerry Ryan wrote:
    I really need to "spice" up my life.

    Thanks for the contest
  • 3/12/2009 Erinn wrote:
    Deana, I love your blog, and wish we had a Trader Joe's in my city. So this leeeetle criticism is constructive:

    On your top ten spices list, all of them except one are singular spices. 'Curry' is an anglicized word that many people use in reference to the combination of spices often found in Eastern cuisine (like cumin, coriander, turmeric, and others), but isn't specifically one spice or even once combination of spices.

    Making your own curry spice mix is light years better than using a store bought curry powder, IMHO, because not only do you get to control what goes in the mix according to your tastes, you know exactly how fresh the ingredients are, unlike many bottled mixes which may have been on the shelf for years before you bought it. I'm fond of Mark Bittman's all-purpose curry powder recipe (http://www.howtocookeverything.tv).

    However, all that being said - I will concede that, if TJ's has a curry powder for sale, I would probably try it. (-:
  • 3/12/2009 Debbie Terry wrote:
    I love my Trader Joes in Pacific Beach
  • 3/12/2009 HEATHER MARKMAN wrote:
    I could use spice in my kitchen!!
  • 3/12/2009 Margaret Lee wrote:
    NICE !
  • 3/12/2009 Mary wrote:
    I would love to try these spices. It's nice to see some new ideas.
  • 3/12/2009 Tiki11 wrote:
    Looks Spicy!
  • 3/12/2009 Tracy wrote:
    Please spice up my life!
  • 3/12/2009 Ruth Bousquet wrote:
    Wow, what a great prize...I love the mortar and pestle, this is great!
  • 3/12/2009 Linda Iverson wrote:
    Good giveaway, this is one I REALLY want !!!
  • 3/13/2009 Charlotte Padgett wrote:
    Please enter me in the drawing.
  • 3/14/2009 jennifer bowen wrote:
    wow this is realy nice add me in for it thanks
  • 3/14/2009 Latrice Jones wrote:
    Great Giveaway!!
  • 3/14/2009 Catherine Davis wrote:
    I hope I can come up with a winning recipe to email to you ladies. What a great prize!
  • 3/16/2009 David Holder wrote:
    I love spicy ffood
  • 3/16/2009 David Holder wrote:
    love spicy food
  • 3/19/2009 Mokujin wrote:
    Thank you for the contest
    very usefull
    Looks Spicy)))
  • 3/24/2009 kelly kozlowski wrote:
    i love spicy food!
  • 3/24/2009 Sharla wrote:
    So we need to submit a recipe to enter this giveaway? I would love to win this for my hubby who is an amazing cook!
    1. 3/24/2009 Deana Gunn wrote:
      Hi Sharla,
      Yes. To enter the contest, please submit a recipe for a healthy entree that uses any spices or herbs from Trader Joe's (email your entry to contest@cookingwithtraderjoes.com by Friday)
      Best of luck!
      Deana
  • 3/25/2009 Kathy wrote:
    Great contest...love trader Joes!
  • 3/26/2009 Jessica wrote:
    Thanks for the great giveaway and the recipes. I especially love cooking with Saffron.
  • 3/27/2009 Natoshia Locklear wrote:
    Please count me in on this great sweepstakes!!!
  • 3/27/2009 Jon wrote:
    I would love to try these spices. It's nice to see some new ideas
  • 3/27/2009 Jessica Verdin wrote:
    I would LOVE to win this.
  • 3/27/2009 john ferris wrote:
    We do not have a Trader Joe's around here, but it would be nice to have some good spices for a change.
  • 4/15/2009 Sandy Collie wrote:
    Thanks for this - cool blog
  • 5/19/2009 Life Assurance wrote:
    Do you know why is health insurance important? Some reasons are as follows
    Health insurance can protect you from the risk of uncertain bills for health care.Without affordable health insurance, you may not be able to afford expensive services.Health insurance can pay for services that you use often.Health insurance can help you to get better quality care as a member of a coordinated health plan than you would get on your own.

    (5) With health insurance, you do not have to worry about the cost of care when you are sick.
  • 6/5/2009 Income protection wrote:
    Good post.
  • 6/11/2009 Life insurance wrote:
    A lot of our health depends upon the kind of food we eat. We should plan our food based on our health needs, our lifestyle our occupation etc. For example if your hobby is stamp collection you need not eat much. However, if your hobby is playing football everyday, then you need to eat accordingly
  • 6/23/2009 Registered Nurse Jobs wrote:
    Thanks for sharing these recipes!
  • 7/16/2009 mens health wrote:
    Great post man.I always wanna this kind of food.
  • 8/5/2009 us drugstore wrote:
    Good review, thanks.
  • 8/6/2009 generic drugs wrote:
    Thanks, helpful source.
  • 8/28/2009 Vino Nebbiolo wrote:
    Wow, I never knew that Spice Up Your Health. That's pretty interesting...
  • 8/31/2009 Promotional Calendars wrote:
    Great Review! I just wish we had a Trader Joe's in West Seattle
  • 9/21/2009 canadian healthcare wrote:
    Good blog, i liking great food
  • 9/21/2009 Introduction to iPhone wrote:
    just awesome...i haven't any word to appreciate this post.....Really i am impressed from this post.tips and advice on holiday travelMyMote is another cool application for iPhone. It transform Apple’s phone into smart MythTV remote control. Unlike a bunch of web based on applications MyMote is developed iPhone SDK and it can be downloaded from the App Store without any charges. Unfortunately the applications is not approved yet. But you can get an ad hoc distribution of a development snapshot here.
  • 9/22/2009 Thai Silk Scarf wrote:
    Great recipes - and very healthy too. Preparation of spices and herbs - this is what I LOVE about cooking. The smells and the aromas they create while preparing - wonderful.
  • 9/28/2009 bierley monomouse wrote:
    If you know your spices, you can make anything taste good. Spice knowledge is as good as reading all the cookbooks in the world.
  • 10/5/2009 kamagra wrote:
    It's really nice to see some new ideas..
    I will definitely going to try out these.
    1. 10/5/2009 lovegra wrote:
      ya really ..this is very good
  • 10/6/2009 LG Chocolate Problems wrote:
    tried your recipie for turkish minted kebabs, went down a storm, thanks
  • 10/10/2009 green laser pointer wrote:
    Garlic is my favorite.
  • 10/20/2009 SEO wrote:
    How to deal with parents who constantly worry about your health and nag you about it?
  • 10/20/2009 best slimming pills wrote:
    Spices like red pepper also heavily speed up the metabolism, great for fat burning!
  • 10/22/2009 free keno software wrote:
    You made me late for work reading this. Nice blog, just bookmarked it to come back later.
  • 10/27/2009 au pair amerika wrote:
    anyone who is health conscious a even a little bid and want to lead life in the absence of diseases would surely avoid consuming these heavy spices.
    1. 10/27/2009 Deana Gunn wrote:
      Actually, so many spices have been shown to have great health benefits.
      Here's a list of just a few of them!
      http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/08/17/the-worlds-7-most-potent-disease-fighting-spices.htm

      In addition, they make up for flavor in dishes low in fats, sugars, and sodium.
  • 11/1/2009 wrote:
    Thankyou for a great post.I am a food conscious person.I love Indian/Pakistani food alot.they are very spicy.as i love traveling,so i traveled to alot of place,i think food establisher should keep food libraries clean.thats a mark of health.


  • 11/5/2009 Ron Brooks wrote:
    Thanks for recipe! I'll try at home
  • 11/6/2009 Tire wrote:
    Nice write up….i enjoyed reading your post
  • 11/12/2009 Wealth Advisers wrote:
    Does look like a good contest, but before I goo off to find the winners (too late to enter, and in the wrong geographical region), I'd like to say that in many recipes, I've found a mix of store-bought preparations and added fresh herbs and spices to be best. In my Rogan Josh, I use both store bought curry paste and fresh garlic, ginger, onion and coriander. It makes an incredible difference, and I have to say it beats the heck out of most Rogan Joshes I've had from Indian takeout places!
  • 11/18/2009 acido folico wrote:
    I love spicy!!! great meals
  • 12/4/2009 como aprender a jugar poker wrote:
    top ten spices list, all of them except one are singular spices. 'Curry' is an anglicized word that many people use in reference to the combination of spices often found in Eastern cuisine (like cumin, coriander, turmeric, and others), but isn't specifically one spice or even once combination of spices.
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